gasometer 
Upper end, and resting at the open lower end in a masonry 
or brickwork water-tank of corresponding form, in which 
it rises or falls according to the amount of gas passing into 
or out of it. The holder (often more than 100 feet in diam- 
eter, and sometimes made in telescoping sections) is sus- 
pended from a heavy framework by chains passing over 
pulleys and terminating in partially counterbalancing 
weights, which aid in regulating the pressure. The name 
gag-holder is often used for the whole structure, as more 
appropriate than gaxometer, since it is not in any sense a 
meter. 
gasometric (gas-o-met'rik), a. [As gasometer 
+ -ic.] Of or pertaining to gasometry or the 
measurement of gases Gasometrie analysis, in 
chetti., the process of separating and estimating the rela- 
tive proportions of the constituents of a gaseous body. 
This is effected either by the action of absorbents, as on 
gas contained in a eudiometer, or by exploding the gas 
with oxygen and observing the volumes before and after 
explosion. 
gasometry (gas-om'e-tri), . [= F. gazometrie 
= Sp. gasoinetria = Pg. gazometria; as gasome- 
ter + -y.] The science, art, or practice of mea- 
suring gases. 
gasOSCOpe (gas'o-skop), n. [< gas + Gr. ancmelv, 
view.] An instrument for indicating the pres- 
ence of gas in buildings, mines, etc. 
gas-Oven (gas'uv"n), n. An oven heated by 
jets of burning gas. 
gasp (gasp), v. [< ME. gaspen, gayspen, < Icel. 
geispa = Sw. gdspa, dial, gispa, yawn, = Dan. 
gispe, gasp. Of. LG. japsen, yawn, which sug- 
gests that gasp stands for "gaps (of. clasp, ME. 
elapsen, hasp; dial, haps, etc.), a deriv. of gape; 
but this does not suit the Scand. forms ; Icel. 
gapa could not produce geispa.] I. intrans. 1. 
To labor for breath with open mouth ; respire 
convulsively ; pant with great effort. 
For thee I longde to Hue, f or thee nowe welcome death ; 
And welcome be that happie pang, that stops my gasping 
breath. Gascoigne, Flowers, In Trust is Treason. 
Those rugged names to our like mouths grow sleek, 
That would have made Quintilian stare and gasp. 
Milton, Sonnets, vi. 
2. To desire with eagerness; crave vehe- 
mently. 
Quenching the gasping furrowea thirst with rayne. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., April. 
E'en so my gasping soul, dissolv'd in tears, 
Doth search for thee, my God. 
Quarles, Emblems, iv. 11. 
To gasp for or after, to pant, strain, or long for : as, to 
gasp for breath ; to gasp for or after freedom. 
The Castilian and his wife had the comfort to be under 
the same master ; who, seeing how dearly they loved one 
another, and gasped after liberty, demanded a most exor- 
bitant price for their ransom. Spectator, No. 198. 
II. trans. To emit or utter gaspingly : with 
away, forth, out, etc. 
And long was it not ere they gasped vp the goste. 
Sir T. More, Cumfort against Tribulation (1573), fol. 42. 
She couldn't see even her children's faces, though we 
heard her gasping out their names. Dickens. 
gasp (gasp), . [= Icel. geispi = Dan. gisp; from 
the verb.] The act of catching the breath with 
open mouth ; labored respiration ; a short, con- 
vulsive catching of the breath. 
Egelred shortly gaue 
A quiet gaspe or twaine, 
And being dead 2 his noble sonne 
Succeeded him in raigne. 
Warner, Albion's England, iv. 22. 
Let all be hush'd, each softest motion cease, 
Be every loud tumultuous thought at peace, 
And every ruder gasp of breath 
Be calm as in the arms of death. 
Congreve, On Mrs. A. Hunt, Singing. 
Then Balin told him brokenly and in gasps 
All that had chanced. Tennyson, Balin and Balan. 
The last gasp, the final expiration in death ; hence, the 
utmost extremity ; the expiring effort. 
To the last gasp I deny thee. 
Fletcher (and another), Elder Brother, v. 1. 
The Rebellion seems once more at its last gasp; the Duke 
is marched, and the rebels fly before him, in the utmost 
want of money. Walpole, Letters, II. 15. 
gasparillo (gas-pa-ril'6), . [W. Ind.] 1. In 
Trinidad, the wood of a species of l/icania, a 
rosaceous genus resembling Chrysobalanus. 2 . 
In Jamaica, a species of Esenbeckia, a rutaceous 
genus, the bark of which has tonic properties. 
gasping (gas'ping), n. [Verbal n. of gasp, .] 
A convulsive effort of breathing. 
Wounds, shrieks, and yaspings are his proud delight, 
And he by hellishness his prowes scans. 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, xi. 27. 
gasping (gas'ping), p. a. Convulsive; spasmod- 
ic, as violent breathing. 
Strove to speak, but naught but gasping sighs 
His lips could utter. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 421. 
They found him lying on the floor, . . . extremities cy- 
anotic and cold, and respiration gasping. 
Medical News, HI. 331. 
2463 
gaspingly (gas'ping-li), adr. In a gasping man- 
ner ; with gasps. 
gas-pipe (gas'pip), n. A pipe for the convey- 
ance of gas. 
gas-plant (gas'plant), n. 1. A name of the 
fraxinella, Dictamnus Fraxinella : so called from 
its exhalation of an inflammable vapor. 2. An 
establishment or ''plant" for the manufacture 
and supply of gas; a gas-works with all the 
necessary adjuncts, as street-mains, offices, etc. 
gas-plate (gas'plat), n. A slightly hollowed 
hardened steel disk set in the face of the slid- 
ing-block of the Krupp breech-mechanism to 
receive the direct force of the powder-gases. 
gas-plot (gas'plot), n. In theaters, a diagram 
prepared by the gas-engineer for each act in a 
play, upon which is plotted a plan of the scene, 
with the positions of all pockets and lights, 
the names of the men stationed at them, and 
a memorandum of the duties and cues of each. 
gas-pore (gas'por), n. A cavity in a mineral 
containing gas-bubbles. Sorby. See inclusion. 
gas-port (gas'port), n. A port used in the man- 
agement of gas, as " plugs" and hydrants are 
used for water. 
Around natural gas-ports grass has been green all win- 
ter as in summer. 
New York Semi-weekly Tribune, March 11, 1887. 
gas-purifier (gas'pu // ri-fi-er), n. In gas-making, 
an apparatus for freeing the gas from sulphur 
compounds, and through which the gas is caused 
to flow as it comes from the gas-washer or 
scrubber. One form is the wet-lime purifier, in which 
the gas traverses a number of chambers partially filled 
with a creamy mixture of lime and water, through which 
it bubbles. In the dry-lime purifier moistened hydrate 
of lime is placed on iron trays, through which the gas is 
filtered. In other purifiers hydrated sesquioxid of iron 
and other materials are substituted for the lime. After 
the action of the purifier, the gas is ready for use. 
gas-range (gas'ranj), n. A cooking-stove or 
range in which gas is used as fuel. 
gas-register (gas'rej"is-ter), n. An apparatus 
for recording the pressure of gas. it is a cylinder 
covered with paper, and made to revolve by clockwork. 
Time is indicated by vertical graduations on the paper, 
while the pressure of the gas in the mains controls a pen- 
cil, the point of which rests against the cylinder, and re- 
cords in a rising and falling line the changes in pressure. 
gas-regulator (gas'reg"u-la-tor), n. Same as 
gas-governor. 
gas-retort (gas're-t6rt"), n. A chamber in 
which carbonaceous matter is distilled to pro- 
duce illuminating gas. 
gas-ring (gas'ring), n. In some forms of breech- 
loading firearms, a gas-check consisting of a 
thin steel or copper plate perforated to the 
exact size of the caliber of the gun, and serv- 
ing as a face-plate to the breech-block. The 
chamber of the breech-block is larger than the hole in the 
plate, so that when a charge explodes in the gun the gas 
from the explosion flies back into the chamber, forcing 
the plate or ring forward against the breech of the gun. 
gas-sand (gas 'sand), n. Sandstone yielding 
natural gas. The various beds of sandstone in the gas 
and petroleum region of Pennsylvania are frequently called 
sands. 
The Sheffield gas-sand, the lowest in Warren Co., is of 
Chemung age. Amer. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., XXVI. 309. 
Gasserian (ga-se'ri-an), a. Of or pertaining to 
the German physician Gasserius (1505-77) : as, 
the Gasserian ganglion, often mistakenly called 
the Casserian. See ganglion. 
gassing (gas'ing), . [Verbal n. of gas, .] 1. 
The process of singeing lace, cotton, yarn, etc., 
to remove the hairy filaments. 
The gassing or singeing, in which process the [silk] yarn 
is run continually through a gas flame at a speed carefully 
regulated so that the flame shall burn off the loose fila- 
ments. Harper's Mag., LXXI. 250. 
2. The act or practice of talking in an idle, 
empty manner; talking nonsense. [Slang.] 
gassing-frame (gas'ing-fram), . An appara- 
tus in which yarns are run off from one bobbin 
to another and carried through gas-flames in 
the operation of gassing. A stop-motion is used to 
draw the yarn out of the flame in case it knots and stops, 
and thus prevent it from Burning off. 
Gassiot's cascade (gas'i-ots kas-kad'). An 
electrical discharge having the appearance of 
a cascade passing over the surface of a cup 
or beaker placed within the receiver of an air- 
pump. 
gassoul (ga-soT), n. [Morocco.] A mineral 
soap exported in considerable quantities from 
Morocco. 
gas-stove (gas'stov), n. An apparatus for uti- 
lizing coal-gas, water-gas, or the vapor of gaso- 
lene in heating and cooking, by means of small 
jets. Large gas-stoves are sometimes called 
gas-ranges. 
Gasteromycetes 
gassy (gas'i), a. [< gas + -yi.] 1. Pertain- 
ing to, characteristic of, or containing gas; 
gaseous. 
A kind of fuel that does not burn with a bright gassy 
flame. Huxley, Physiography, p. 244. 
2. Given to "gas" or "gassing"; prone to con- 
ceited, boastful, or high-flown talk : as, a gassy 
fellow. [Slang.] 
Gassy politicians in Congress. If. A. Sev., CXLIII. 220. 
gastH, n. A Middle English form of ghost. 
gast 2 t (gast), v. t. [< ME. gastcu (pret. gaste, 
pp. gasted, gast), frighten, make afraid, also in 
comp. agasten (pret. agaste, pp. agasted, usual- 
ly agast, > mod. E. agast, misspelled aghast), 
< AS. gtestan, frighten, found only once in 
pret. pi. gceston ("Hie g&ston Godes cempan 
gare and lige," they afflicted God's champions 
with spear and flame ( ' with fire and sword ') 
Juliana, 17) = G. dial. (Bav.) geisten, afflict, 
make afraid; prob. not connected, as is com- 
monly understood, with AS. gast, E. ghost (as 
if ' terrify by a ghostly apparition'), but rather 
formed, with deriv. -t, from the root (T/ gais) 
of Goth, us-gaisjan, make afraid, us-geisnan, be 
amazed, prob. akin to L. harrere, stick fast, ad- 
here, the connecting notion appearing in the ex- 
pressions ' to root to the spot with terror,' ' to 
transfix with terror,' ' to stand transfixed with 
astonishment,' etc. Hence gaster, and gastly, 
now usually spelled ghastly : see ghastly, aghast, 
etc.] To terrify; frighten; strike aghast. 
Bote Treuthe schal techen ow . . . 
Bothe to sowen and to setten and sauen his tilthe, 
Gaste crowen from his corn. 
Piers Plowman (A), vii. 129. 
Conloundid ben the wise men, gast [" perterriti," Vulg.] 
and cast thei ben [" they are dismayed and taken," A. V.]. 
Wydif, Jer. viii. 9. 
Or whether gasted by the noise I made, 
Full suddenly he fled. 
Shak., Lear (ed. Furness), ii. 1. 
I made thee Hie, and quickly leave thy hold, 
Thou never wast in all thy life so gast. 
Mir. for Mags., p. 120. 
gas-table (gas'ta"bl), . In a theater, a table 
and an upright slab near the proscenium on 
the prompt-side of the stage, upon which are a 
number of valves and switches whereby the gas- 
engineer controls all the lights in the house. 
gastaldite (gas-tal'dlt), n. [Named after Prof . 
B. Gastaldi.] A variety of glaucophane. 
gas-tank (gas'tangk), . A gas-holder ; a gas- 
ometer. 
gas-tar (gas'tar), n. Same as coal-tar. 
gaster 1 (gas'ter), v. t. [Freq. of gast 2 .] To 
frighten; scare. [Prov. Eng.] 
If the fellow be not out of his wits, then will I never 
have any more wit while I live ! Either the sight of the 
lady has gastered him, or else he's drunk, or else he walks 
in his sleep. Beau, and FL, Wit at Several Weapons, ii. 3. 
gaster 2 (gas'ter), n. [NL., < L. gaster (gaster-, 
gastr-), < Gr. yaarrjp (gen. yaarcpof, syncopated 
yaarp6f, in comp. yaarpo-, rarely yaarepo-), the 
belly, stomach, maw, the womb; doubtfully 
identified with Skt. jathara, the belly, womb, 
and with L. venter, the belly, womb: see ven- 
ter 1 .] The stomach; the belly or abdomen: 
rarely used alone, but entering into many com- 
pounds and derivatives referring to the stom- 
ach, abdomen, or abdominal organs, or a part 
likened thereto. 
gasteiic (gas-ter'ik), a. Same as gastric. Thom- 
as, Med. Diet. 
gastero-. Same as gastro-, combining form of 
gaster 2 . 
Gasterocoma(gas-te-rok'o-ma),. [NL. (Gold- 
fuss, 1829). < Gr. yaari/p, stomach, + /to/ii?, hair.] 
The typical genus of the family Gasterocomida'. 
Gasterocomidse (gas " te - ro - kom ' i - de), n. pi. 
[NL., < Gasterocoma + -4dce.~\ A family of en- 
crinites or fossil crinoids, found in the Devo- 
nian rocks. 
Gasterolichenes (gas'te-ro-li-ke'nez), n. pi. 
[NL., < Gr. yaarf/p, stomach, + fai%j/v, lichen.] 
A small group of plants having algal gonidia and 
fungal hyphse which form a peridium, and pro- 
duce spores in the same manner as the Gaste- 
romycetes, especially of Lycoperdon. Two gen- 
era and three species are known. 
Gasteromycetes (gas // te-ro-ml-se'tez), n. pi. 
[NL., < Gr. yanriip, stomach, + pfalK, pi. pviairef, 
mushroom.] In mycology, one of the principal 
divisions of the Basidiomycetes, characterized 
by having the hymenium inclosed, lining small 
cavities, which are formed within a peridium. 
The principal genera are Gteaster (earth-star) and Lycoper- 
don (puffball). Some species of the latter attain a large 
size. See cut under exopendium. 
