gaum 
Every artist will expect that proceedings of unparal- 
leled stupidity, such as gauming the interior . . . with a 
solution of shell-lac, . . . will never occur again. 
Athrmruiit, March 81, 1888, p. 412. 
2. To handle clumsily; paw. Fletcher. 
Don't bu mauming and gauming a body so. Can't y<>u 
keep your filthy hands to yourself? 
.S'in/Y, Polite Conversation, ii. 
gaumless (gam'les), . T< gaum*- + -less.] With- 
out understanding; foolish. Also spelled gtttcni- 
less. [Prov. Eng.] 
Did I ever look so stupid? so gaumless, as Joseph calls 
it? E. Bronte, Wuthering Heights, xxi. 
gaum-like (gam'lik), a. [< gamnl + like*.] 
Sensible; understanding. [Prov. Eng.] 
She were a poor friendless wench, a parish prentice, but 
honest and gaum-like. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia's Lovers, xv. 
gaumy (ga'mi), a. [< gaum* + -y 1 .] Smeary; 
dauby. 
It shows Wilkle designing with admirable vigour, but 
the execution is vicious and gaumy. 
Athenceum, Feb. 25, 1888, p. 250. 
gaun 1 (g&n),ppr. A dialectal (Scotch) variant 
of gain' for going. 
gaun 2 , gawn (gan), . [E. dial., an old contr. of 
gallon, q. v.] 1. A gallon ; especially, 12 pounds 
of butter. [Prov. Eng.] 2. A small tub or 
lading-vessel. [Local, Eng.] 
gauncn 1 , gaunch 2 . v. and n. See ganchl, ganch*. 
gaunt 1 (gant or gant), a. [Also E. dial, gant; 
< ME. gawnt, gawntc, lean, slender; prob. of 
Scand. origin ; the nearest form appears to be 
Norw. gand, a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin 
man. Cf. Sw. dial. ganTc, a lean and nearly 
starved horse.] 1. Shrunken, as with fasting 
or suffering; emaciated; lean; thin; haggard. 
Gaunt am I for the grave, gaunt as a grave. 
Shak., Rich. II., ii. 1. 
The gaunt, haggard forms of famine and nakedness. 
Burke, A Regicide Peace, i. 
I behold him in my dreams 
Gaunt as it were the skeleton of himself, 
Death-pale, for lack of gentle maiden's aid. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
2. Characterized by or producing emaciation ; 
famishing; attenuating: as, gaunt poverty. 
The metropolis of the Republic was captured, while 
gaunt distress raged everywhere within our borders. 
Surnner, Orations, I. 133. 
gaunt 1 !, i'. *. [< gaunt 1 , a.] To make lean. 
Lyke rauening woolfdams vpsoackt and ffaitnted. 
Stanihurst, Xiieid, ii. 3i. 
gaunt 2 , v. i. See gant*. 
gaunt 3 (gant or gant), . The great crested 
grebe or cargoose, Podiceus cristatus. 
gauntert, n. [ME., < OF. gantier, a glover, < 
gant, a glove : see gauntlet 1 .] A glover. Tori- 
Plays, Index, p. Ixxvi. 
gauntlet 1 (gant'let or gant'let), n. [Also gant- 
let; < OF. gantelet, dim. of gant, F. gant, a 
glove, = It. guanto, a glove, < ML. wantin, the 
long sleeve of a tunic, a gauntlet, glove, < D. 
want, a mitten, = Dan. vante, a mitten, = OSw. 
wante, a glove, = Icel. vottr (for *vantr), a glove.] 
1. A glove ; specifically, in medieval armor, a 
glove of de- 
fense, either 
attached to the 
defensive ar- 
mor of the 
arm or sepa- 
rate from it. 
Throughout the 
twelfth and thir- 
teenth centuries 
the sleeve of the 
hauberk was long, 
and closed at the 
end covering the 
hands in the form 
of mittens ; a 
glove of leather 
was worn be- 
neath the mail 
to protect the 
hand from the 
chafing of the 
metal rings. To- 
ward the end of 
the thirteenth 
century a slit was made at the palm, through which the 
hand could be passed, allowing the mail mitten to hang 
from the wrist. A few instances of mail gauntlets with 
separated fingers appeal-in English inonumentsof the same 
period. In the fourteenth century the separate armed 
glove appears, consisting at first of leather upon which 
roundels anil other plates of steel are sewed ; and about 
1350 is found the completely articulated glove of ham- 
mered steel, each finger separate and each joint free to 
bend. The changes alter this are merely in the direction 
of greater delicacy of execution, allowing still freer move- 
ment. In tourneys and justs the left hand was sometimes 
guarded by a heavy steel glove without joints. See main- 
de-fer. Also called glove-of-mail. 
View his la knight's] two Gantlets ; these declare 
That both hia Hands were us'd to War. Prior, Alma. ii. 
156 
The hands, the spear that lately grasped, 
Still in the mailed gauntlet clasped, 
Were interchanged in greeting dear. 
Scott, L. of L. -M., v. i;. 
2. A long stout glove, usually for use in riding 
or driving. As ordinarily worn, it covers loose- 
ly the lower part of the arm. 
I, in fur cap, gantlets, and overcoat, took my station a 
little way back in the circle of firelight. 
The Century, XXXVI. 47. 
3. In a restricted sense, the wrist-cover or cuff 
alone of a glove. 
Thick white wash-leather gloves with gauntlets are worn 
by the Life Guards. Diet, of Needlework. 
4. A mitt. 5. In surg., a form of bandage 
which envelops the hand and fingers like a 
glove. closed gauntlet. See rfosei , v. (.To cast or 
throw down the gauntlet, (a) To cast one's glove 
upon the ground in token of challenge or defiance : a cus- 
tom of medieval times. 
At the seconde course came into the hall Sir Richard 
Uemocke the kynge his champion, makynge a proclama- 
cion that whosoever would sale that kynge Richard was 
not lawfully kynge, he woulde flghte with hym at the vt- 
As if of purpose he [Ctesias] had in challenge of the 
World cast downe the Gantlet for the Whetstone. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 450. 
Hence, in general (6) To challenge; invite opposition 
with the view of overcoming it. 
The duke had by this assertion of hia intentions thrown 
down the gauntlet. Stubbs, Const. Hist. , 337. 
To take up the gauntlet, (a) To accept a challenge 
gauze 
gaur 1 !, r. i. [ME. gaiireu, regarded as repr. 
mod. E. gare : see (/air 1 .] Same as (/are 1 . 
gaur- (gour), . [The native E. Ind. name, < 
Skt. gaura.] A large wild ox of India, Bibos 
i/iinnis, the wild stock of the domesticated gay- 
al, and related to the zebu. It inhabits the jungles 
of Assam, of Cuttack in the Madras Presidency, and of the 
Central Provinces. It has a broad protuberant forehead, 
short conical horns very thick at the base, high shoulders, 
and a long tail brushy at the end. The color is dark, 
without the white legs which characterize the gayal. The 
hide is very thick, and is valued as a material for shields. 
The gaur is not known in the domesticated state, the ani- 
mal which has been reclaimed being a modified variety. 
See gayal. Also written gour. 
The Major has stuck many a pig, shot many a gaur, rhi- 
noceros, and elephant. Kingslaj, Two Years Ago, xviii. 
To a casual observer there may appear no difference 
between Boa gaurus (the gaur) and Boa frontalis (the 
gayal)- but a careful inspection shows the formation of 
the skull and horns to differ, besides which the gaur is 
the larger animal. Proe. Zool. Soc., London, 1883, p. 143. 
Gaura (ga'ra), n. [NL.] An pnagraceous ge- 
nus of erect herbs of the United States and 
northern Mexico, bearing wand-like spikes or 
racemes of white or pink flowers. There are 
15 or 20 species, of which the Texan, G. Lind- 
heimeri, is frequent in cultivation. 
gausie, . See gaucie. 
gauss (gous), . [Named after Karl Friedrich 
Gauss (1777-1855), a German mathematician, 
noted especially for his magnetic researches and 
inventions.] A unit used to measure the in- 
jf a magnetic field. It is the intensity pro- 
that has been at . _ 
I shall make no scruple to take up (for it seemes to be 
the challenge both of him and all his party) to take up this 
Gauntlet, though a Kings, in the behalfe of Libertie and 
the Common-wealth. Milton, Eikonoklastes, Pref. 
Every man is not a proper champion for truth, nor fit 
to take up the gauntlet in the cause of verity. 
Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici, i. (i. 
A, Gauntlet of plate, early I4th century. 
B, Gauntlet of plate, later uth century. C, 
Gauntlet of mail forming part of the hauberk, 
I3th century. ( From Viollet-l' 
du Mobilier francais."} 
, 
t-le-Duc's " Diet. 
gauntlet 2 (gant'let), n. Same as gantlet*, 1. 
gauntleted, gauntletted (gant'- or gant'lefr- 
ed), a. 1. Wearing a gauntlet. 
" Beware, madam," said Lindesay ; and snatching hold 
of the Queen's arm with his own gauntletted hand, he 
pressed it, in the rudeness of his passion, more closely 
perhaps than he was himself aware of. Scott, Abbot, xxii. 
The two Giant Brothers began to feel for their swords 
and shake their gauntleted fists at one another. 
Lowe, Bismarck, I. 373. 
2. Provided with a gauntlet: as, a gauntleted 
glove. 
gauntlet-guard (gant'let-gard), n. A guard of 
a sword or dagger, so formed as to protect the 
hand very completely or in an unusual way. 
See patah. 
gauntlet-pipe (gant'let-pip), n. A tobacco- 
pipe marked with a gauntlet or glove on the 
heel or spur that is, on the bottom of the bowl, 
where the stem is attached. Those originally so 
marked were supposed to be superior, and the gauntlet- 
mark of the first maker was imitated by others. 
gauntlet-shield (gant'let-sheld), 11. Same as 
glove-shield, 
gauntlet-swprd (gant'let-sord), n. A sword 
furnished with a gauntlet-guard. See patah. 
gauntletted, . See gauntleted. 
gauntly (gant'li or gant'li), adv. Leanly; 
meagerly; haggardly. 
gauntness (gant'nes or gant'nes), i. The con- 
dition of being gaunt. 
I know him by his gauntness, his thin chitterlings. 
Middleton, Inner-Temple Masque. 
gauntree, gauntry (gan'tre, -tri), . ; pi. gaun- 
trecs, gauntries (-trez, -triz). [Also gantry, gan- 
tree; < gawn*, a tub, a gallon measure, + tree, 
a wooden support : see gaun* and tree. The F. 
chantier, a wood-yard, stocks, gauntree, stilling- 
stool (< L. cantherius, a trellis), is a different 
word.] 1. A frame made to support a barrel or 
cask in a horizontal position with the bung 
uppermost. 
Syne the Myth carles tooth and nail 
Fell keenly to the wark ; 
To ease the gtmtrcea of the ale. 
Mammy, Christ's Kirk, iii. 
2. A frame or scaffolding which supports a 
crane or other structure. E. H. Knight. 
Upon the top of all comes the main deck, furnished with 
gantries, cranes, oil-heated rivet-furnaces, etc. 
Nature, XXXVI. 355. 
Also spelled gawntree. 
Traveling gauntree, a movable platform. 
gaup, v. i. See gawp 1 . 
gaupus (ga'pus), n. [A dial. var. of gawby, 
giiby.] A gaby ; a simpleton. [Prov. Eng.] 
The great gaupus never seed that I were pipeclaying 
the same places twice over. Mrs. Gaskell, Ruth, xvi. 
Gaussian (gou'si-an), a. [< Gauss ( 
+ -ian.] Pertaining to the mathematician 
Karl Friedrich Gauss, or to his discoveries. 
Gaussian logarithms, logarithms so arranged as to give 
the logarithms of the sum and difference of numbers 
whose logarithms are given. 
Gaussian logarithms are intended to facilitate the find- 
ing of the logarithms of the sum and difference of two 
numbers whose logarithms are known, the numbers them- 
selves being unknown ; and on this account they are fre- 
quently called addition and subtraction logarithms. 
Encyc. Brit., XIV. 777. 
Gaussian method of approximate Integration, a 
method of integration in which the values of tne variable 
for which those of the function are given are supposed to 
be chosen at the most advantageous intervals.- Gaus- 
sian period, a period of congruent roots in the division 
of the circle. Gaussian series, a series studied by Gauss, 
in which the quotient of the (n + 2)th term by the (n + l)th 
is 
(n + a) (n + <3) 
(n + 1) (n + y) ' 
while the first term is unity: commonly called the hyper- 
geometric series. Gaussian sum, a sum of terms the 
logarithm of which is the square of the ordinal number of 
the term multiplied by 2ir v/~l times a rational constant, 
the same for all the terms. Gaussian or Gauss's anal- 
ogies or actuations, the following formula) of spherical 
trigonometry, where the capitals are the angles of a spheri- 
cal triangle and the corresponding small letters the op- 
posite sides : 
sin i (A + B)/cosi C = cos J ( &)/ cos J c 
sin 4 (A B)/ cos J C =sin i (a 6) /sin \ c 
cos i (A + B) / sin J C = cos j (a + 6) / cos \ c 
cos J (A B)/sini C = sin J(a+ 10/sinJr. 
Gaussian or Gauss's formula, function, theorem, 
etc. See the nouns. Gaussian or Gauss's rule for 
finding the date of Easter. See Easteri. 
gaut (gat), n. Same as ghat. 
gautch (gach), n. [Origin obscure.] The offal 
resulting from culling and opening scallops. 
[Local, U. S.] 
gauton (ga'ton), H. [Origin obscure.] In coal- 
mining, a narrow channel cut in the floor of an 
underground roadway for purposes of drainage. 
[Staffordshire, Eng.] 
gauze (gaz), n. and a. [Formerly also gawz, 
gawse ; < F. gaze, cushion-canvas, tiffany (Cot- 
grave), gauze, = Sp. gam = NGr. ya(,a, gauze ; 
cf. ML. gazzatum, gauze. Said to be so called 
from Gaza in Syria (cf. ML. gazctum, wine 
from Gaza), but the statement arose from a 
mere conjecture of Du Cange, and rests on no 
evidence except the similarity of the words and 
the fact that some other fabrics are named 
from the places of their origin, as calico, cam- 
bric, damask, holland, muslin, etc. The word is, 
however, perhaps of Eastern origin; cf. Hind. 
gazi,ihm, coarse cotton cloth. The Hind, gdchh, 
gach, gauze, is from the E. word.] I. n. 1. A 
very thin, slight, transparent stuff made of silk, 
silk and cotton, or silk and hemp or linen. It is 
either plain or brocaded with patterns in silk, or, in the 
case of gauzes from the east of Asia, with flowers in gold 
or silver. Compare gossamer. 
Brocades, and damaska. and tabbies, and gawses, 
Are by Robert Ballentine lately brought over, 
With forty things more. 
Swift, An Excellent New Song. 
