goldfinch 
white. 3. Some finch like or likened to either 
of the above, as the Arkansan goldfinch, Cliry- 
somitris psaltria. 4. The yellow bunting, Em- 
beriza, citrinella: a misnomer. 5f. A gold 
piece ; a sovereign. [Old slang.] 
Sir H. Don't you love singing-birds, madam? 
Angel (iside.) That's an odd question for a lover. 
(Aloud.) Yes, sir. 
Sir II. Why then, madam, here is a nest of the prettiest 
Farquhar, Constant Couple, ii. 2. 
rested wren or kinglet, 
2567 
gold-leaf (gold'lef), . Gold beaten into the 
form of a very thin leaf or sheet. An ounce of 
gold may be beaten out so as to cover 200 square feet or 
more, the leaf used for gilding being often much thinner 
than this. The gold is rolled into a ribbon not thicker 
than ordinary paper; it is then cut into pieces an inch 
square, piled up with much larger square pieces of gold- 
beaters' skin, and beaten until it reaches their size. It is 
then cut up again, interleaved with fresh pieces of the 
skin, and again beaten, and so on. A book of gold-leaf 
. See electroscope. 
gold-finder (gold'fin'der), . 1. One who finds 
gold. 2f. One who empties privies. 
If his acres, being sold for a marvedi a turf for larks in 
cages, cannot fill this pocket, give 'em to gold-finders. 
Middleton, Spanish Gypsy, ii. 2. 
As our gold-finders, they have the honour in the night 
and darkness to thrive on stench and excrements. 
Feltham, Resolves. 
gold-finished (g61d'fin // isht), a. In bookbind- 
ing, decorated in gold, as distinguished from 
decorated by blind stamping, or stamping in 
ink. 
goldfinny (gold'fin'i), n. ; pi. goldfinnies (-iz). 
1. A variety of the Conner, Crenilabrus melops. 
[Eng.] Also goldsinny. 2. The Crenilabnix 
rupestris, a fish specifically named Jago's gold- 
finny. 
goldfish (gold'fish), . [= D. goudvisch = G. 
goldfisch = Dan. Sw. guldfisk.] 1. A fish of 
the carp family Cyprinida:, Cyprinus or Caras- 
sius auratus, originally a Chinese species, now 
__ . Desti- 
tute of gold. 
The goldless age, where gold disturbs no dreams. 
Byron. 
gold-lily (gold'HFi), n. The yellow lily. See 
lily. 
She moves among my visions of the lake, . . . 
While the gold-lily blows, and overhead 
The light cloud smoulders on the summer crag. 
Tennyson, Edwin Morris. 
gold-mine (gold'miu), . 1. A place where 
gold is or may be mined. Hence 2. Any- 
thing productive of great wealth. 
gold-miner (gold'mi"ner), n. One who mines 
for gold. 
gold-mole (gold'mol), . The Cape chryso- 
chlore, Chrysochloris aureus, or any other in- 
sectivorous mammal of the family Chrysochlo- 
ridida>. See cut under Chrysochloris. 
goldney, goldny (gold'ni), .; pi. goldneys, 
goldnies (-niz). [Perhaps contr. of goldeneye, 
which is also used as the name of a duck.] The 
goldenmaid, golden wrasse, gilthead, or con- 
ner, Crenilabrus melops or C. tinea. 
gold-note (gold'not), n. A bank-note in the 
general form of other national-bank notes, 
but payable only in gold coin. See gold-bank. 
gold-of-pleasure (gold'ov-plezh'ur), . The 
Camelina sativa, an annual cruciferous plant of 
Europe, a weed in grain- and flax-fields, and 
sometimes cultivated for the oil expressed from 
golet 
The goldsmith or scrivener who takes all your fortune 
to dispose of, when he has beforehand resolved to break 
the following day, does surely deserve the gallows. Sw/f. 
2. In entom., a goldsmith-beetle. 
Wasps, bees, large beetles, such as the common Cetonias 
or yMtiaithi. Liep.ofU.S. Com. ofAgri.,\>. 298, 1863. 
goldsmith-beetle (gold'smith-be"tl), . 1. A 
lamellicorn beetle of the family Scarabaidce, 
Cotalpa- lanigera : so called from its beautiful 
appearance, the wing-covers being of a golden 
color with metallic luster. The insect is nearly an 
inch long. It is very abundant in the United States in 
early summer, feeding upon the foliage of various trees. 
The larva closely resembles in habits and appearance the 
common white grub. See cut under Cotalpa. 
2. A name of some or any of the cetonians, a 
group of scarabseoid beetles. 
goldsmithery, goldsmithry (gold'smith-er-i, 
-smith-ri), n. [< ME. goldsmithry, < goldsmith 
+ -ry. Cf. AS. goldsmithu, the art of the gold- 
smith.] Goldsmiths' work. Chaucer. 
Even in early times the gvldsmithry of the Irish was 
very beautiful. 
W. S. Gregg, Irish Hist, for Eng. Readers, p. 10. 
goldspink (gold'spingk), n. [< gold + spink. 
Cf. goldfinch.'] The goldfinch. [Local, Eng. 
and Scotch.] 
The gowdspink, music's gayest child, 
Shall sweetly join the choir. 
Burns, Humble Petition of Bruar Water. 
gold-stick (gold'stik), . A title given to those 
members of the British royal household who 
bear gilded rods when attending the sovereign 
on occasions of state. 
goldstone (gold'ston), n. Same as aventurin, 1. 
goldtail (gold'tal), n. An arctiid moth, Por- 
thesia auriflua : so called from the yellow anal 
goldthread (gold'thred), n. Aranunculaceous 
evergreen plant, Coptis trifolia, growing in the 
United States and Europe : so called from its 
fibrous yellow roots. See Coptis. 
gold-tressodt, a. [ME. goldc-tressed.] Having 
tresses or hair of a golden color. 
Goldfish { Carassiits aurattu"}. 
(From Report of U. S. Fish Commission, 1884.) 
domesticated and bred everywhere for orna- 
ment in ponds, tanks, and aquariums. The rich 
red, golden, silver, black, and other colors are artificially 
produced and propagated by selection ; in a state of na- 
ture the fish is of a dull olivaceous green, to which it tends 
to revert if left to itself on escaping from cultivation. 
2. Same as garibaldi, 2. 
goldflowert (gold'Hou^er), n. Golden cudweed. 
Halliwell. 
goldfoamt, [ME. goldefome.] Copper. 
gold-foil (gold'foil), n. Gold beaten into thin 
sheets, especially for the use of dentists. It is, 
however, many times thicker than gold-leaf. 
goldhammer (gold'ham"er), n. [= G. goldham- 
mer; < gold + hammer in yellowhammer, q. v.] 
Same as yellowhammer. 
gold-hammer (g61d'ham"er), . A gold-beat- 
ers' hammer. 
gold-houset (gold'hous), . [ME. goldehous.~\ 
A treasury. Halliwell. 
On the morowe, tho hyt was day, 
The kyng to hys golde-hows toke hys way. 
US. Cantab. Ft. ii. 38, f. 133. 
goldie, a. and . See goldy. 
goldilocks, goldylocks (gol'di-loks), n. 1. A 
species of buttercup, Ranunculus auricomus. 
2. A book-name for cultivated species of Chry- 
socoma, composite plants from South Africa, 
with heads of yellow flowers. 3. The Lino- 
syris vulgaris, a native of Europe, resembling 
goldenrdd, with small heads of yellow flow- 
ers. 4. The filmy fern, Hymenophyllum Tun- 
bridgense. 5. The moss Polytrichum commune. 
golding (gol'ding), n. [< gold + -ing 1 .'] 1. One 
of various plants with yellow flowers, especial- 
ly the corn-marigold, Chrysanthemum segetum. 
2. A variety of apple of a golden-yellow 
color. 
goldisht (gol'dish), a. [< ME. goldish ; < gold + 
-jsft 1 .] Somewhat golden in color. 
Gret torment to hir ther gan she purchas, 
Hir goldish herre tering, breking, euermore, 
For hir fader and lord lying hir before. 
Bom, ofPartenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1348. 
gpldish-huet, a. [ME. goldisshe-hewe ; < gold- 
ish + Ait* 1 .] Of a somewhat golden hue or 
color. 
All is not gold that shynethe goldisshe-hewe. 
la/agate, Minor Poems, p. 190. 
gold-knife (gold'mf ), n. A long straight knife 
made to cut gold-leaf. 
162 
fabrics. 
gold-paint (gold'pant), n. Same as 
paint. 
gold-powder (gold'pou"der), . A preparation 
consisting of gold-leaf ground in a mortar with 
honey or thick gum-water until the gold is re- 
duced to an extremely fine powder. The honey 
or gum is then washed out with warm water, 
and the gold-powder remains. 
gold-proof (gold'prof), a. Proof against bri- 
bery or temptation by money. [Bare.] 
Art thou gold-proof! there's for thee ; help me to him. 
Beau, and Ft., Maid's Tragedy, v. 4. 
gold-shell (gold'shel), . 1. In the fine arts, 
a shell coated on the inside with a thin layer 
of gold-paint, soluble in water. 2. Anomia 
cpliippium, a bivalve mollusk, so called from 
one of its varieties having a golden luster. 
It is one of several species, all known as clink-shells and 
jingle-shells, common on tide-rocks near low-water mark, 
firmly attached by one valve, and not distantly resembling 
limpets. The attachment is by a sort of stem or peduncle 
issuing through an opening in the side of the under valve. 
Also called silver-shell. 
goldsinny (gold'sin'i), n. Same nagoldfinny, 1. 
gold-size (gold'siz), n. [< gold + size'*.'] 1. 
A size laid on to form a surface on which gold- 
leaf can be applied. It is of different composition 
according to the manner in which the gold is to be applied, 
the size of the surface to be gilded, the material upon 
which it is applied, and the like. That used in burnish- 
" 'ing is a composition of pipe-clay, red chalk, black 
I, suet, and bullocks' 
gold-washing (gold 'wosh" ing), n. A place 
where refuse is washed from gold. 
goldwasp (gold'wosp), n. A parasitic hyme- 
nopterous insect of the family Chrysididce, which 
vies with the humming-birds in the richness 
of its colors. The common European species, Chrysis 
ignita, is about as large as the house-fly, of a rich deep 
blue-green color on the head and thorax, the abdomen 
burnished with a golden-coppery hue. The goldwasps 
deposit their eggs in the nests of other hymenopters, their 
larvae destroying those of these insects. Also called golden 
wasp, golden flu, ruby-tailed fly, and cuckoo-fly. See cut 
under Chrysididce. 
gold-weightt (gold' wat), n. 1 . Precise weight ; 
hence, exact estimate or limit. 
A man, believe it, that knows his place, to the gold- 
weight. Fletcher (and another), Love's Pilgrimage. 
2. pi. Scales for weighing gold. 
I married to a sullen set of sentences ! 
To one that weighs her words and her behaviours 
In the gold-weights of discretion ! 
Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, i. 3. 
gilding is a composition of pipe-clay, red chalk, bluv^- 
lead, suet, and bullocks' blood, thinned with a solution of 
gelatin. 
2. A mixture of chrome-yellow and varnish 
used in gold-printing and for other purposes, 
goldsmith (gold'smith), w. [< ME. goldsmith, 
< AS. goldsmith (= D. goudsmid = OHG. gold- 
smid, goltsmid, MHG. goltsmit, G. goldschmied 
(as a proper name also Goldsehmidt, etc.) = 
Icel. gullsmidkr = Sw. Dan. guldsmed), < gold, 
gold, + smith, smith.] 1 . An artisan who man- 
ufactures vessels ano> ornaments of gold; a 
worker in gold. Goldsmiths formerly acted also as 
bankers, managing the pecuniary concerns of their cus- 
tomers. The first circulating notes having been issued 
by bankers of this class, they were called goldsmiths' notes. 
Goldsinythes furst ande ryche leweleres, 
Ande by hemself crafty Broderes. 
Douce MS., Oxford, quoted in Destruction of 
[Troy (E. E. T. S.), Pref., p. xlvii. 
Are there nae gowdsmiths here in Fife. 
Can make to you anither knife? 
Leetome Brand (Child's Ballads, II. 345). 
Neither chain nor goldsmith came to me. 
Shak.,C. of E.,iv. 1. 
goldworm (gold'werm), n. A glow-worm, 
goldy (gol'di), a. and n. [< ME. goldy, adj.; < 
gold + -y 1 .] I.t a. Of a gold color. 
As ofte as sondys be in the salte se, 
And goldy gravel in the stremys rich. 
MS. Cantab. Ff. i. 6, f. 12. (HaUiwell.) 
II. n. [So.: also written goldie, gooldie, gow- 
die. Cf. goldfinch, goldspink.} 1. The goldfinch 
Carduelis elegans. [Local, Eng.] 2. The yel- 
low bunting, Emberiza citrinella. [Local, Eng.] 
goldylocks, n. See goldilocks. 
gole't, n. An obsolete spelling of goal 1 . 
gole' 2 (gol), n. [E. dial, also goal, < ME. gole, < 
OF. gole, goule, gule, < L. gula, throat : see gul- 
let, gules.'] If. The throat; hence, what comes 
from the throat, as voice, utterance, or saying. 
The water foulis han here hedis leid 
Togedere. and of a short avysement. 
Whan everryche hadde his large gole [var. goles] seyd, 
They seyden sothly al be on assent. 
Chaucer, Parliament of Fowls, 1. 556. 
2. A narrow valley; a hollow between hills. 
3. A ditch; a small stream. 4. A flood-gate; 
a sluice. [Prov. Eng. in last three senses.] 
gOle 3 t, . An obsolete form of jowl. 
goletH (go'let), n. A Middle English form of 
gullet. 
