gestour 
Fifty cloileclc (clothed) urstuurs, 
To many men ho dede honours, 
In countreys fer and nere. 
Launfal (Ritson's Metr. Rom., I.). 
gestural (jes'tur-al), a. [< gesture + -al.] Per- 
taining to gesture. 
gesture (jes'tur), . [< ML. ijesturn, a mode of 
action, < L. "g'erere, pp. gestus, bear, refl. bear 
oneself, behave, act: see gest' 2 , gest 3 .] If. 
Movement of the body or limbs; carriage of 
the person. 
Be in gesture & hehauiour comely. 
Booke of Precedence (E. E. T. S., extra ser.), i. 71. 
There was speech in their dumbneas, language in their 
very gesture. Shak., W. T., v. 2. 
This for her shape I love ; that for her face ; 
This for her gesture or some other grace. 
Carew, The Spark. 
2. A motion of the head, body, or limbs ex- 
pressive of thought, sentiment, or passion ; any 
action or posture intended to express a thought 
or a feeling, or to emphasize or illustrate what 
is said. 
Tnllie silk-til well: The gesture of man is the speech of 
his bodie; and therefore reason it is that, like as the 
speeche must agree to the mater, so must also the gesture 
agree to the minde. Sir T. Wilton, Art of Rhetoric, p. 225. 
Their gestures nimble, dark eyes flashing free. 
Byron, Childe Harold. 
He [Cheyte Sing] even took off his tnrban, and laid it 
in the lap of Hastings, a gesture which in India marks the 
most profound submission and devotion. 
Macaulay, Warren Hastings. 
His [D'laraeli's] gesture was abundant; he often ap- 
peared as if trying with what celerity he could move his 
body from one side to another, and throw his hands out 
and draw them in again. 
W. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 150. 
The lower the intellectual condition of the speaker and 
the spoken-to, the more indispensable is the addition of 
tone and gesture. 
Whitney, Nat. and Origin of Lang., p. 294. 
3f. Bearing; behavior, in a general sense. 
If you do love Rosalind so near the heart as your gesture 
cries it out, when your brother marries Aliena, shall 'you 
marry her? Shak., As you Like it, v. 2. 
=Syn. 2. Gesture, Gesticulation. These words may have 
the same meaning, but gesture is more common to repre- 
sent the thing, while gesticulation generally represents 
the act, and especially vigorous, varied, and rapid action : 
as, rapid and abundant gesticulation ; a slight gesture of 
impatience. 
We say with literal truth that a look, a tone, a gesture, 
is often more eloquent than elaborate speech. 
Whitney, Life and Growth of Lang., p. 283. 
Attendant on strong feeling, especially in constitutions 
young or robust, there is usually a great amount of mere 
bodily vehemence, as gesticulation, play of countenance, 
of voice, and so on. This counts as muscular work, and 
is an addition to brain work. 
A. Bain, Corr. of Forces, p. 230. 
gesture (jes'tur), v. ; pret. and pp. gestured, ppr. 
gesturing. [X gesture, n."] I. intrans. To ges- 
ticulate ; make gestures. 
For the plaiers, who were sent for out of HetruHa, as 
they daunced the measures to the minstrel and sound of 
flute, gestured not undecently withall, after the Tuscane 
fashion. Holland, tr. of Livy, p. 250. 
II. trans. To accompany or enforce with ges- 
ture or action. 
Our attire disgraceth it ; it is not orderly read nor ges- 
tured as beseemeth. Hooker, Eccles. Polity. 
gesture-language (jes'tur-lang"gwaj), . A 
language of gestures; a body of signs for 
thought consisting of movements of the hands, 
arms, etc. ; sign-language. 
The gesture-language, of a very considerable degree of 
development, of the prairie tribes of American Indians ; 
or auch signs as are the natural resort of those who by 
deafness are cut off from ordinary spoken intercourse 
with their fellows. Whitney, Encyc. Brit., XVIII. 767. 
gestureless (jes'tur-les), a. [< gesture + -less."} 
Without gesture"; free from gestures, 
gesturementt (jes'tur-ment), n. [< gesture + 
-meni.] The act of making gestures ; gesticu- 
lation. 
Meanwhile our poets in high parliament 
Sit watching every word and gestureinent. 
Bp. Ball, Satires, I. iii. 46. 
gesturer (jes'tur-er), n. One who gesticulates ; 
an actor. 
[The poet] may likewise exercise the part of gesturer, 
as though he seemed to meddle in rude and common mat- 
ters. W. Webbe, Eng. Poetry, p. 95. 
gesture-speech (jes'tur-spech), n. Same as 
gesture-language. [Rare.] 
Possessing a copious and voluble vocabulary, largely 
supplemented by gesture-speech, or shrug-language, and 
violating in their articulation the usual powers of written 
characters, they (French ornithologists] not only acquired 
a trick of Gallicizing technical words, but they also cul- 
tivated a characteristic habit of rising superior to orthog- 
raphy. Bull. U. S. deal. Survey, V., No. 4, 1880, p. 691. 
gestUTOUSt (jes'tur-us), a. [< gesture + -oits.] 
Using gestures ; gesticulatory. 
158 
2503 
Some be as ioy\nc,nesturous, and coiinterfeicUng of any- 
thing by ymitation, as Apes. 
Touchstone of Complexions, p. 97. 
geswarp (ges'warp), TO. See guess-warp. 
get 1 (get), v. ; pret. got (gat, obs.), pp. got or 
gotten, ppr. getting. [Formerly also gett; dial. 
git; ME. geten (rarely geten, pret. gat, pi. gaten, 
geten, pp. <7e<ew, later goten), < AS. jritare, gytan, 
gietan, take, obtain, very rare in the simple 
form, but frequent in comp., d-gitan, get, and- 
gitan, on-gitan, understand, an-gitan, on-gitan, 
seize upon, be-gitan (> E. beget), for-gitan (> E. 
forget), ofer-gitan, forget, under-gitan, under- 
stand (pret. -geat, pi. -gedton. pp. -geten), and 
in the other tongues usually in like com- 
pounds ; = OS. bi-getan, far-getan = OFries. 
ur-jeta, for-jeta = MD. ver-ghiten, D. ver-geten 
= MLG. vor-getten, LG. ver-geten = OHG. ir- 
gezzan, pi-gezzan, fer-gezzan, MHG. vergezzen, 
Gr. vergessen = Icel. geta, get, = Sw. for-gdta = 
ODa,n.for-fffette, forget (cf. Svr.gitta = Dan. gide, 
feel inclined to, gjette, guess), = Goth, bi-gitan, 
find, obtain, = L. -hendere (/ lied), in comp. 
prehendere, contr. prendere, seize (> ult. E. pre- 
hend, etc., prize^, prison, etc.), and in prada, 
booty, prey (> E. prey), praidium, property, 
estate, hedera, ivy (that which clings), etc. ; = 
Gr. x av &< ivuv (V X^)t seize: the orig. mean- 
ing being ' seize, take,' whence the wide range 
of special applications, to express any kind of 
literal or figurative attainment.] I. trans. 1. 
To obtain ; procure ; gain ; win ; attain to ; ac- 
quire by any means : as, to get favor by service, 
or wealth by industry; to get a good price; 
to get an advantage; to get possession; to get 
fame or honor. 
Thei brought be-fore theym all the riche prise that thei 
hadde geten. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 201. 
" Me list not" (said the Elfln knight) " receave 
Thing offred, till I know it well be gott." 
Spenser, F. Q., II. vii. 19. 
His holy arm hath gotten him the victory. Ps. xcviii. 1. 
Wisdom not only gets, but got retains. 
Quarles, Emblems, iv. 12. 
I told you 'twas in vain to think of getting Money out 
of her : She says, if a Shilling wou'd do 't, she wou'd not 
save you from starving or hanging. 
Wycherley, Plain Dealer, v. 1. 
In the Spring the wanton lapwing gets himself another 
crest. Tennyson, Locksley Hall. 
earn; win 
own living ; 
to get coal. As a technical term in coal-mining, getting 
includes all the operations, from the holing or undercut- 
ting of the coal to the hauling of it to the shaft ready to 
be raised to the surface. 
I am a true labourer ; I earn that I eat, get that I wear. 
Shah., As you Like it, iii. 2. 
3. To beget; procreate; generate. 
There the Aungelle commaunded Adam that he scholde 
duelle with his Wyf Eve: of the whiche he gatt Sethe. 
Mandemlle, Travels, p. 67. 
Make him ;/'' sons and daughters, 
Young giants. B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1. 
4. To acquire mental grasp or command of; 
commit to memory ; learn : as, to get a lesson. 
Lo, Yatea ! without the least fineaae of art, 
He gets applause I wish he'd get his part. 
Churchill, Rosciad. 
His stock, a few French phraaes got by heart, 
With much to learn, but nothing to impart. 
Cowper, Progress of Error, 1. 375. 
5. To prevail on ; induce ; persuade. 
Their king Groffarius [they] get to raise his pow'rful force ; 
Who, must 'ring up an host of mingled foot and horse, 
Upon the Troians set. Drayton, Polyolbioii, i. 443. 
Their friends could not get them to speak. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 239. 
6. To cause or procure to be : with a past par- 
ticiple qualifying the object : as, to get a thing 
done. 
Those things I bid you do ; get them dispatch'd. 
Shak., Cymbeline, L 4. 
Put Lord Bolingbroke in mind 
To get my warrant quickly aign'd. 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, II. vi. 76. 
Neither can it be aaid that he who gets a wrong done 
by proxy is leas guilty than if he had done it himself. 
H. Spencer, Social Statics, p. 167. 
7. To carry; betake : used reflexively. 
She gets her downe in a lower roome, 
Where sundrie seamen she eapiea. 
The Merchant's Daughter (Child's Ballads, IV. 330). 
Arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the 
land of thy kindred. Gen. xxxi. 13. 
Come, and get you to bed quickly, that you may up be- 
time i' the morning. Beau, and Fl., Coxcomb, iv. 7. 
8. To lay hold on ; capture ; seize upon. 
The plebeians have got your fellow-tribune, 
And hale him up and down. Shak., Cor., v. 4. 
2. Specifically, to obtain by labor; 
by habitual effort : as, to get one's o 
get 
1 nin not valiant neither, 
But every puny whipster gett my sword. 
Shak., Othello, v. 2. 
9. To exert effort upon or in regard to ; effect 
movement of or about : used with reference to 
a great variety of actions, and followed by a 
qualifying adverb: as, to get a piece of work 
along (cany it forward), get in hay, get a ship 
off from a bar, get outs, book (procure its print- 
ing and publication) or a warrant (procure the 
issue of one), get together an army, get up a 
meeting, etc. 
We'll get in [into the farce] some hits at Sabbatarian- 
Ism, . . . some bits of clap-trap. 
Shirley Brooks, Sooner or Later, I. 143. 
10. In compound tense-phrases with have and 
had, used pleonastically (thus, I have got, I had 
got = I have, I had) to indicate either (a) pos- 
session, as he has got a cold; what have you 
got in your hand f or (6) obligation or necessity, 
as he has got to go, you have got to obey (= he 
has to go, you have to obey, but colloquially 
with more emphatic meaning). 
Thou hast got the face of a man. Herbert. 
Get you (or thee) gone, go ; be off ; begone. 
Go, get yougon: hence, hence, vn-lucky Race ! 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Lawe. 
To get a good offing. See offing. to get by heart. 
See heart. to get ground. See groundl. 1o get 
handt. See hand. To get In. (a) To lay up ; store ; 
provide : aa, to get in one's fuel or flour. (6) To produce 
an effect by ; make an impression with : as, to get in one's 
work. [Colloq.] To get Off. () To draw or pull off; 
haul away ; remove ; release : aa, to get one's coat off; to 
get a ship off from a bar. (&) To secure the release or ac- 
quittal of; bring off in safety; clear. 
The Duke is coming : I don't find it certain, however, 
that the Pretender is got off. Walpole, Letters, II. 27. 
(c) To sell ; dispose of : as, to get of goods, (d) To utter ; 
deliver; perpetrate (usually implying a slur): an, to get o/ 
a poor joke. [Slang, U. S.] To get on, to put on ; draw 
or pull on ; don, as a garment. 
Get on thy boots : we'll ride all night. 
Shah., 2 Hen. IV., v. 3. 
To get one's back up, to get one's dander up, to get 
one's gruel, to get one's monkey up, to get one's 
second breath, etc. See the nouns. To get out. (a) 
To draw out ; diaengage, as a sword or a watch. (6) To 
produce ; reveal ; bring forth. 
Then take him to develop, if you can, 
And hew the block off, and get out the man. 
Pope, Dunciad, iv. 270. 
The lark could scarce get out his notes for joy. 
Tennyson, Gardener's Daughter. 
To get religion, to experience a change of heart; be- 
come converted. See conversion, 3. [Colloq., U. S.) 
We had come to Andover to get religion, and the pur- 
suit of this object was seldom interfered with by such 
episodes as the one just related. 
Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past, p. 6. 
That glory-hallelujah variety of cunning or delusion, 
compounded of laziness and catalepsy, which is popular 
among the shouting sects of plantation darkies who git 
religion and flts twelve timea a year. 
The Atlantic, XVIII. 79. 
To get the better end of. See end. To get the bet- 
ter Of. See the better (6), under better^, n. To get the 
bulge on one, to get the dead-wood on one, to get 
the drop, to get the floor, to get the grand bounce, 
to get the hang of, to get the head, to get the mit- 
ten, etc. See the nouns. To get together, to gather np ; 
collect. 
Get your apparel together, . . . meet presently at the 
palace. Shak., M. N. D., iv. 2. 
TO get up. (a) To contrive ; prepare ; organize ; arrange 
for : aa, to get up an entertainment, an excursion party, 
etc. 
I see it is a trick 
Got up betwixt you and the woman there. 
Tennyson, Dora. 
Thia world's great show, that took in getting up 
Millions of yeara, they flniah ere they sup. 
Lowell, Fitz Adam'a Story. 
(6) To compile or write ; prepare : aa, to get up a petition 
or a report, (c) To pile up ; stack ; rick. 
If got up damp, it [barley] is liable to generate excessive 
heat. Encyc. Brit., IV. 266. 
(d) To study up ; acquire a sufficient knowledge of : as, to 
get up a subject for dissertation or debate. 
It is comparatively easy for an author to get up any 
period with tolerable minutenesa in externals, but readers 
and audiences find more difficulty in getting them down, 
though oblivion swallows scores of them at a gulp. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 1st er., p. 208. 
(e) To dress ; array ; equip : as, the costume or character 
was well got up ; to get one's aelf up regardless of expense. 
[Colloq.] 
I arrived here in safety in complexion like an Ethio- 
pian aerenader half got up, and so broiled and peppered 
that I was more like a devilled kidney than anything else 
I can think of. Lowell, Fireside Travels, p. 95. 
She isn't downright pretty either. But she's got up ex- 
quisitely. Mrs. Whitney, Leslie Goldthwaite, vii. 
(/) To do up, as muslins and laces ; specifically, to clear- 
starch, iron, flute, etc. 
She got up Mrs. Reed's lace frills, and crimped her night- 
cap borders. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, i. 
(g\) To make up ; recover. 
