gin 
(e) A machine for separating the seeds from cotton, hence 
called a cotton 'tin. Srr cut under cotttm-yin, (/) A ma- 
chine for driving piles, (y) A pump moved by rotary sails. 
3. A trap ; a snare ; a springe. 
The gin shall take him by the heel ; and the robber 
shall prevail against him. Job xviii. 9. 
What pleasure is it sometimes with gins to betray the 
very vermin of the earth. 
/. (rotten, Complete Angler, p. 29. 
Innocence, having no such purpose, walks fearlessly and 
carelessly through life ; and is consequently liable to tread 
on tlie gins which Cunning hath laid to entrap it. 
Fielding, Amelia, ix. 
gin 4 (jin), v. t. ; pret. and pp. ginned, ppr. gin- 
ning. [< gin*, n.~] 1. To catch in a trap. 
So, so, the woodcock's ginn'd ; 
Keep this door fast, brother. 
Fletcher (and another ?), Nice Valour, iii. 1. 
2. To clear (cotton) of seeds by means of the 
cotton-gin. 
gin 5 (jin), n. [Abbr. of geneva, or rather of 
the older form generer, "giniper, < ME. gynypre, 
juniper: see geneva, juniper. ,] An aromatic 
spirit prepared from rye or other grain and 
flavored with juniper-berries. The two important 
varieties of gin are Dutch gin, also called Holland and 
Schiedam, and English gin, known often by the name Old 
Tom. Holland gin is almost free from sweetness, and is 
generally purer than English. Pure gin is an important 
medicament in many diseases, especially in those of the 
urinary organs. 
This calls the church to deprecate our sin, 
And hurls the thunder of the laws on gin. 
Pope, Epil. to Satires, i. 130. 
Cordial gin, gin sweetened and flavored with aromatic 
substances so as to form a sort of cordial. Gin Act, an 
English statute of 1786 (9 Geo. II., c. 23) imposing a heavy 
duty on spirituous liquors and prohibiting their sale by re- 
tail. It was superseded in 1743(16 Geo. II., c. 8) by more 
moderate duties. The title is also sometimes given to 
a similar English statute of 1729 (2 Geo. II., c. 17). Also 
called JekyU'i Act. Unfavored gin, pure distilled gin. 
gin 6 t, n. A contraction of given. 
gin 7 (jin), n. [Australian.] An Australian na- 
tive woman ; an old woman generally. 
An Australian settler's wife bestows on some poorslaving 
gin a cast-off French bonnet. 
Kingtley, Two Years Ago, xiii. 
2516 
gingival 
giber, ML. zin;il>r>; < Gr. ;/;>i.if^f, ginger; of gingerbread-work (jin'jer-bred-werk), . Or- 
Eastern origin: cf. Ar. Pers. zanjabil (> Turk, namental work cut, carved, or formed in various 
:<,i/i ft/) = Skt. i-riHiinvera, ginger.] I. n. The fanciful shapes, for buildings, furniture, etc.: a 
rhizome, and also the light-yellow substance of * "* *""" "* 
the rhizome, of 
Zingiber offici- 
nale, a reed-like _^_ ._ . 
And listening, sometimes to a moan, 
And sometimes to a clatter, 
Whene'er the wind at night would rouse 
term of contempt. 
The rooms are too small, and too much decorated with 
carving and gilding, which is a kind of gingerbread-tcurk. 
Smollett, France and Italy, xxx. 
gin-block (jin'blok), n. A 
simple form of tackle-block 
with a single wheel, over 
which a rope runs. It has a 
hook by which it swings from the 
jib of a crane or the sheer of a 
gin. E. H. Knight. 
ginete (Sp. prou. che-na'ta), t 
n. [Sp., a horse-soldier: 
see genet 1 , jennet 1 .'] A 
trooper ; a horse-soldier ; a 
light-cavalryman: so called 
from these ' soldiers being 
mounted on jennets. See 
jennet 1 . Also written genete. 
It was further swelled by five thousand ginetei or light 
cavalry. Prtteott. 
They set out promptly, with three thousand genete*, or 
light cavalry, and four thousand infantry. 
Irving, Granada, p. 29. 
gin-fizz (jin'fiz'), n, A drink composed of gin, 
lemon-juice, and effervescing water, with or 
without sugar. 
Neither the succulent cocktail nor the artistic yin-fizz 
had . . . effect upon them. 
Philadelphia Times, May 23, 1886. 
gingt (ging), n. [< ME. gyng, gynge, genge, a 
company, people, host, < AS. (late and rare) 
genge, a company, retinue (= MLG. gink, going, 
a going, turn, way) (cf. getigan, a secondary 
verb, go, pass), < gangan, go : see gang, v., and 
cf. gang, n., which, in the same sense, is of 
Scand. origin.] A company ; a gang. 
Ctunno [It.], the common rascalitie of gallie slaves, a 
base route, the mariners call in English ghing. Flnrio. 
There's a knot, a ging, a pack, a conspiracy against me. 
Shak., M. W. of W., iv. 2. 
Proceeding furder I am met with a whole ging of words 
and phrases not mine, for he hath maim'd them, and like 
a slye depraver mangl'd them in this his wicked Limbo. 
Milton, Apology for Smectymnuus. 
gingal (jin'gal), re. Another spelling of jingal. 
ginge (ginj), v. t. [E. dial. Hence ginging.'] In 
mining, to line (a shaft) with wood or stone. 
gingeley, gingely, gingelly, n. Same as gin- 
gili. 
ginger 1 (jin' jer), n. and a. [< ME. ginger, gynger, 
gyngere, contr. of gyngevere, giugivere, gimjiver, 
< OF. gengibrc, gingimbre, gingembre, F. gin- 
gembre = Pr. gingibre, gingebre = Sp. gengibre 
= Pg. gengibre, gengivre = It. genzevero, zenzo- 
vero, zenzero, geiigero, gengiovo = AS. gingiber 
= D. gember (< F.) = MLG. gingeber, engewer, 
L/G. engebcr = MHG. yingibere, also ingewer, G. 
ingwer = Dan. ingefier = Sw. ingefara, < L. zin- 
perennial plant 
with annual 
leafy stems 3 or 
4 feet high, and 
flowers in coni- 
cal spikes borne 
on distinct leaf- 
less stems. The 
species is a native 
of the warmer parts 
of Asia, though not 
known in a wild 
state; it is exten- 
sively cultivated 
throughout tropical 
Asia, and has been 
introduced into 
most other tropical 
countries. The rhi- 
zome has a peculiar 
agreeable, aromat- 
ic odor and a pun- 
gent taste, and its 
substance has been 
in use as a spice 
from the remotest 
times. It is distin- 
guished as ''/.''/, or 
white, according as it retains its dark integument or has 
had it removed by scraping. The kind now most esteemed 
is known as Jamaica ginger, and comes mainly from the 
island of Jamaica. In medicine ginger is used as a car- 
minative stimulant, and externally as a rubefacient and 
anodyne, but it is employed much more largely as a con- 
diment than as a drug. 
Be alle that Contree growe the gode Gyngevere : and 
therlore thidre gon the Marchauntes for Spicerye. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 170. 
Ginger shall be hot i' the mouth too. 
Shak., T. N., ii. 3. 
Mango ginger, the root of Curcuma Amada, a plant of 
Bengal, belonging to the same natural order as Zingiber 
officinale.'Wiid. ginger, in the United States, the Asa- 
rum Canadense, the root of which has an aromatic odor 
and a warm pungent taste. 
"ade 
Ginger-plant (Zingiber offitinalf}. 
a, flower on larger scale. 
The gingerbread-u-ork on his house. 
Lowell, Unhappy Lot of Mr. Knott. 
ginger-grass (jin'jer-gras), . 1. The Andro- 
pogon Scheennntlntg, an aromatic East Indian 
grass, from which the oil known as oil of gin- 
ger-grass or oil of geranium is distilled. 2. 
The Panicum glutinosum, a coarse stout grass 
of Jamaica. 
gingerly (jin'jer-li), adv. [< ginger* + -lyt.~\ 
Softly; delicately; cautiously; mincingly; dain- 
tily: used especially with reference to manner 
of walking or handling. 
Go gingerly. Skelton, Garland of Laurel, 1. 1203. 
What is 't that you 
Took up so gingerly ! Shak. , T. G. of V. , 1. 2. 
Prithee, gentle officer, 
Handle me gingerly, or I fall to pieces. 
lllassinger, Parliament of Love, v. 1. 
Walk circumspectly, tread gingerly, step warily, lift not 
up one foot till ye have found sure footing for the other. 
J. Trapp, On 1 Pet. iii. 17. 
For my part, I can scarcely rely on the timeliness or ef- 
ficacy of a medicine gingerly administered in 1875, and 
not even expected to operate till 1890. 
W. R. Greg, Misc. Essays, 1st ser., p. 80. 
gingerly (jin'jer-li), a. [< ginger? + -fy 1 , after 
gingerly, adv.] Cautious; mincing; dainty. 
The man eyed it with reverence. Then with a gingerly 
gesture he gave it back. 
M. N. Ulurfree, Prophet of Great Smoky Mountains. 
(jin' jer-nes), n. [< ginger? + 
The character of being ginger; nice- 
ness ;~delicacy; mincingness. 
Their gingerness in tripping on toes, like young goats. 
Stttbbei, Anat. of Abuses (ed. 1595), p. 42. 
gingernut (jin'jer-nut), n. A small cake fla- 
vored with ginger and sweetened with mo- 
lasses. 
gingerOUS (jin'jer-us), o. [< ginger* + -OMS.] 
Resembling ginger, especially in color or taste. 
Mr. Lammle takes his gingerovs whiskers in his left 
hand, and bringing them together, frowns furtively at his 
beloved, out of a thick gingerous bush. 
Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, x. 
-pop (jin'jer-pop'), n. Ginger-beer, espe- 
of a weak and inferior sort. 
A thin brittle 
cially 
gingersnap (jin'jer-snap), n. 
cake spiced with ginger. 
But Faith, if I told her that her heavenly ginger-mapi 
would not be made of molasses and flour, would have a 
cry, for fear that she was not going to have any gimjer- 
II. a. Made of or flavored with ginger. 
Ginger cordial, a cordial made of various ingredients 
and flavored with ginger. 
ginger 2 (jin' jer), a. [In use only in adv. and adj. 
gingerly, q. v. : see also gingerness. The adv. is 
used exclusively with reference to manner of 
walking, or, less frequently, of handling, thus 
giving some color to Skeat's derivation, namely, 
< Sw. dial, gingla, gangla, go gently, totter, 
freq. verb from gSng, a going: see gang, n., and 
cf. gangling ; cf. also ging, from the same ult. 
source. In this view, the adj., with its sense of 
' brittle, tender, delicate,' would be a develop- 
ment from the more lit. adverb. The Scand. 
gingla would reg. give an E. verb *gingle, varia- 
ble to "ginger (with hard g in both syllables, *- -._,-, , 
subject, however, to assi'bilation in confer- ginger-wine (jin' jer-win'),. A beverage made 
mation to the more common word ginger*, n.); with water, sugar, lemon-rinds, ginger, yeast, 
but no such verb is found.] Brittle; tender; raisins, etc., and frequently fortified with 
delicate. Halliwett. [Prov. Eng.] whisky or brandy. 
gingerade (jin-jer-ad'), n. [< ginger* + -ade*, ginger-workt (jin'jer-werk), n. Gingerbread- 
in imitation of lemonade.'] An aerated bever- work, 
age flavored with ginger. Hence with thy basket of popery, thy nest of images, 
ginger-ale (jin'jer-al'), . An effervescing and whole legend of ginger-work. 
drink similar to ginger-beer. The name was prob- 
ably adopted by manufacturers to differentiate their pro- gingerWOrt (jin'jer-wert), n 
duction from the ordinary ginger-beer. order Scitaminea. 
ginger-beer (jin'jer-ber'), n. An effervescing ^ghAHL (ging'am), n. and a. [= D. gingam, 
beverage made by fermenting ginger, cream- g^g M _ Q. D an '. g w . gingang; the F. form is 
of-tartar, and sugar withjeast and^water. guingan (= It. gingamo, ghingano), according 
^ ,_ ,. 
A plant of the 
gingerbread (jin'jer-bred), n. [< ME. ginger- 
bred, -breed; < ginger* + bread.] Akind of sweet 
cake flavored with ginger, it is often made in fan- 
ciful shapes. The name was also formerly given to a kind 
of white bread containing nuts, spices, and rose-water. 
They fette him first the sweete wyn, 
And mede eek in a maselyn, 
And roial spicerye 
Of ginge breed that was f ul fyn, 
And lycorys and eek comyne, 
With sugre r 
to Littre\ from Guingamp, a town in Brittany, 
where this fabric is (said to be) made. Other- 
wise from Jav. ginggang (Webster), lit. perish- 
able, fading (Heyse).] I. n. A cotton fabric 
woven of plain dyed yarns, in a single color or 
different colors, or of dyed and white yarns, 
combined in grays or other mixtures, checks, 
plaids, or stripes. 
II. a. Made or consisting of gingham. 
. 143. gingili (jin'ji-li), n. [E. Ind.] The Sesamum 
id gave them by letters at a time, uoiasmun, vicar, xn. rj) er |jy g ] 1 ij e Eng.] 
gingerbread-plum (jin'jer-bred-plum), n. The gingiyje (jin'-ji've), re. pi. [L., pi. of gingiva, 
fruit of the gingerbread-tree, Parinarium ma- gvim.] J n anat., the gums. 
crophyllum. gingival (jin- ji'val), a. [< Ij.gingivie, the gums, 
gingerbread-tree (jin'jer-bred-tre), n. 1. ihe + _ a i ] Pertaining to the gums; inphoneties, 
doom-palm, Hyphcene Thebaica. 2. The Pan- p ro d uee( j upon or against the gums : sometimes 
narium macropnyllwn, a rosaceous tree of west uge( j o f cer tain alphabetic sounds Gingival 
ern Africa, bearing a large farinaceous fruit jj ne> a reddish streak or margin at the reflected edge of 
which is known as the gingerbread-plum. the gums, characteristic of various diseases. Dunglison. 
