goose-skin 
3. Same as goose-Jlt-xli . 
Her teeth chattered in her head, and her skin began to 
rise into what is vulgarly termed goose-skin. 
Miss Ft'.rrier, Inheritance, ii. 
gOOSe-Step (gos'step), n. Milit., the marking 
of time by raising the feet alternately without 
making progress. [Eug.] 
goose-tansy (gos'tan'zi), M. Silverweed. Also 
called gtMixc-yratm. [North. Eng.] 
gOOSetongue (gos'tung), n. The sueezewort, 
Acliillt'it 1'tarmica. 
goose-winged (gos'wingd), a. Naut. : (a) Hav- 
ing, as a course or topsail, only one clue set, 
the middle of the sail and the other clue being 
securely furled. (b) Having, as a fore-and-aft 
rigged vessel running before the wind, the fore- 
sail set on one side and the mainsail on the 
other: an epithet applied also to the sails. 
Also wing-and-wiiig. 
goosey-gander (go'si-gan'der), . [< goosey, 
dim. of goose, + gander. Of. the "Mother 
Goose" rime, " Goosey, goosey, gander, whither 
dost thou wander?" etc.] 1. A childish term 
toi goose or gander. 2. A blockhead. [Colloq.] 
That goosey-gander Alwright. Sfacmillan's Mag. 
gOOtt, A Middle English form of goat. Chau- 
cer. 
gootoo (go'to), . [Jamaica negro speech.] 
One of two species of fish found on the coast of 
Jamaica. One, the edible gootoo, is a species 
of Scams; the other, the sand-gootoo, a species 
of Tetraodon. 
go-out (go'out), . Same as gout 2 , 3. 
gope (gop), v. i. ; pret. and pp. goped, ppr. gop- 
ing. [Cf. Icel. gopi, a vain person. See gop- 
pish.] 1. To talk loud. 2. To snatch or 
grasp. 
gopher (go'fer), n. [A partly phonetic spelling 
(prop, gofer, as in another sense : see gofer) of 
F. gaufre, a gopher, a name applied among the 
French settlers in America to any small bur- 
rowing animal, so called from its honeycomb- 
ing the earth, being a particular use of gaufre, a 
honeycomb, a waffle, formerly gauffre, goffre, > 
E. gauffer, goffer, crimp, etc.: see goffer, and 
wafer, waffle.] 1. One of the pouched rats or 
pocket-gophers, sundry species of the rodent 
family Geomyidce and genera Geomys and Tho- 
momys. See these words, and cut under Geo- 
myidce. 2. One of the spermophiles, burrow- 
ing squirrels, or ground-squirrels of the family 
Seiuridce, subfamily Spermophilina;, and genera 
Cynomys, Spermophilus, and Tamias. The ani- 
mals of the genus Cynomys are prairie-dogs. (See prairie- 
dog.) The spermophiles are of numerous species in the 
western United States and Territories, such as 5. 13-linea- 
tus, S. franklini, S. richardsoni, etc. See cut under Sper- 
mophilus. 
3. The Testudo (or Xerobatfs) Carolina, a tor- 
toise from 12 to 15 inches long, of gregarious 
nocturnal and fossorial habits, abundant in the 
southern Atlantic States. The burrows are dug to 
the depth of several feet. These tortoises lay eggs about 
as large as those of pigeons in hollows at the mouth of 
the burrow. 
4. A snake, Spilotescouperi. Also called goplter- 
snake. 5. In some parts of the southern United 
States, a plow. 6. A kind of waffle. See 
gofer. 
gopher (go'fer), v. i. [< gopher, .] In mining, 
to begin or carry on mining operations at hap- 
hazard, or on a small scale ; mine without any 
reference to the possibility of future perma- 
nent development. Such mine-openings are 
frequently called gopher-holes and coyote-holes. 
[Pacific States.] 
gopher-man (go'fer-man), n. A safe-blower. 
[Thieves' slaiig.] 
gopher-root (go'fer-rot), . A low rosaceous 
shrub, Chrysobalanus oolongifolius, with exten- 
sively creeping underground stems, found in 
the sandy pine-barrens of Florida, Georgia, and 
Alabama. 
gopher-snake (go'fer-snak), n. Same as 170- 
pher, 4. 
Spilotes couperi, inhabiting the Gulf states and Georgia, 
. . . is of a deep black, shading into yellow on the throat. 
It is known by the negroes as the indigo- or gopher -snake, 
. . . sometimes reaching the enormous length of ten feet. 
Stand. Nat. Hist., III. 367. 
gopher-wood (go'fer-wud), n. [<Heb. gopher, a 
kind of wood not identified, + E. wood*.] 1. 
A kind of wood used in the construction of 
Noah's ark, according to the account in Gene- 
sis, but whether cypress, pine, or other wood is 
a point not settled. 
Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Gen. vl. 14. 
2. The yellow-wood, Cladrastis tinctoriti, of the 
United States. 
2577 
goppish (gop'ish), a. [Appar. < gope + -w/jl.] 
Proud ; pettish. Ray. [Obsolete or prov. Eng.] 
gOpura(go'po-ra),B. [E. Ind.] In India, espe- 
cially in the south, a pyramidal tower over the 
gateway of a temple. Also gopurum. 
The oblong ruths were halls or porticos with the Bud- 
dhists, and became the gopuras or gateways which are fre- 
quently indeed generally more important parts of 
Dravidian temples than the vinmnas themselves. 
J. Fergiisson, Hist. Indian Arch., p. 332. 
goracco (go-rak'o), i. [E. Ind.] Tobacco pre- 
pared with aromatics in the form of paste, 
smoked in hookahs by the natives of western 
India. 
goral (go'ral), w. [E. Ind.] A kind of goat- 
antelope, Antilope or Nemorha'diis goral, inhab- 
iting the Himalaya mountains. It has short, coni- 
Goral, or Goat-antelope (fifemorhattus goral}. 
cal, inclined, recurved horns, and short fur of a grayish- 
brown color minutely dotted with black, the cheeks, chin, 
and upper part of the throat being white. The goat-ante- 
lope of Japan is similar. Also govral. 
goramy, gourami (go'-, go'ra-mi), n. [Java- 
nese.] A fish of the genus Osjihromenus (0. 
olfax) and of the family Anabantidce or Laby- 
rinthibranehicke. It is a native of China and the Malay 
archipelago, but introduced into Mauritius; the West In- 
dies, and Cayenne, where it has multiplied rapidly. Its 
flesh is of excellent quality and flavor ; in Java it is kept 
in jars and fattened on water-plants. It is deep in pro- 
portion to its length, and the dorsal and anal fins have 
numerous short spines, while the first ray of the ventral 
is protracted into a filament of extraordinary length. It 
is one of the few fishes that build nests, which it does by 
interweaving the stems and leaves of aquatic plants. 
gorbelliedt (gor'bel"id), a. [< gorbelly + -ed%. 
Cf. gorrel-bellied.] Big-bellied. 
1 Trail. 0, we are undone, both we and ours, for ever. 
Fal. Hang ye, gorbellied knaves; are ye undone? 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., ii. 2. 
'tis an unconscionable vast gorbellied Volume, bigger 
bulkt than a Dutch Hoy. 
Nash, Haue with you to Saffronwalden. 
gorbellyt (gor'bel"i), . [= Sw. dial, g&rnalg, 
a fat paunch ; < E. gore 1 , ME. gore, gorre, filth, 
dirt (= Sw. dial, gar, Sw. gorr, dirt, the con- 
tents of the intestines : see gore 1 ), + belly (= 
Sw. balg).] A prominent belly ; also, a person 
having a big belly. 
The belching gor-belly hath well nigh killed me. 
A. Brewer, Lingua. 
gorbuscha (g6r'bush-a), n. A kind of salmon, 
Oncorhynchus gorbuscKa. Also garbum. 
gorcet (gors), n. [< AF. gorse, OF. gorge, < L. 
gurges, a whirlpool: see gorge.'] A pool of 
water to keep fish in ; a weir. Wright. 
gorcock (gor'kok), n. [< gor- (origin obscure ; 
supposed to be orig. gorse, but perhaps of Gael, 
origin: cf. Gael, gor-m, a green or grassy plain, 
or ijort, standing corn, a garden, a field?) + 
cocfc 1 .] The Scotch moor-cock, red-grouse, or 
red-game, Lagopus scoticus. Also garcock. 
The gor-cock nichering flew. Hogg, Witch of Fife. 
gor-crow(gor'kro), . [Also gore-crow ; (gore^, 
filth, dirt, carrion (see (/ore 1 ), + crow 2 .] The 
common carrion-crow, Corvus corone. Also gar- 
crow:. 
It was formerly distinguished from the rook, which feeds 
entirely on grain and insects, by the name of the gor or 
gorecrow. Pennant, Brit. Zobl., The Carrion Crow. 
The black blood-raven and the hooded gore-crow sang 
amang yere branches. 
Blackwood's Mag., June, 1820, p. 283. 
gordt, n. Same as gourd. 
Gqrdiacea (g6r-di-a'se-a), n. pi. [NL., < Gor- 
dius, q. v.,+ -acea.] Smnr as Gordiida!. Sie- 
bold, 1843. 
gordiacean (gor-di-a'se-an), a. and n. I. o. Of 
or pertaining to the Gordiacea or Gordiida!. 
ft. . A gordian or hairworm, 
gordiaceous (g6r-di-a'shius), a. Same as gor- 
ilincean. 
Gordiadae(g6r-di'a-de),n.jtf. Same as Gordiida'. 
Gordonia 
Gordian (gor'di-an), a. and . [< L. Gonliux, 
a. (itudux Gordiutt, the Gordian knot), < Gor- 
iliiis, < Gr. T6/>Au>s, a king of Phrygia.] I. a. 
Pertaining to GordiuB, the first khig of Phrygia 
(father of Midas, called by some the first king), 
or to an inextricable knot tied by him __ Gordian 
knot, (a) In Gr. leyentl, a knot tied by Gordius in the cord 
that connected the pole and the yoke of the ox-cart in 
wliii-h he was riding when he or his son Midas was chosen 
king of Phrygia. It was so intricate as to defy all attempts 
to untie it ; and the oracle of the temple in which the cart 
was preserved declared that whoever should succeed in 
undoing it would become master of Asia. Alexander of 
Macedon solved the difficulty by cutting the knot with his 
sword, and the oracle was fulfilled. Hence the phrase is 
applied to any inextricable difficulty ; and to cut the GOT- 
dian knot, or the knot, is to overcome a difficulty in a bold, 
trenchant, or violent way. 
Sin and shame are ever tied together 
With gordian knots, of such a strong thread spun, 
They cannot without violence be undone. 
Webster, Devil's Law-Case, ii. 4. 
The knot which you thought a Gordian one will untie 
itself before you. Je/erson, Correspondence, I. 286. 
(b) In her., a name sometimes given to the Navarre knot, 
or the figure of interlinked chains which forms the bearing 
of the kings of Navarre. 
II. n. [1. c.] It. A complication ; a Gordiau 
knot. 
An insolent, 
To cut a gordian when he could not loose it. 
Chapman, Bussy d'Ambois, iv. 1. 
My title 
Needs not your school-defences, but my sword, 
With which the gordian of your sophistry 
Being cut, shall shew th imposture. 
Fletcher (and others), Bloody Brother, t 1. 
2. [< Gordius + -aw.] A hairworm ; one of the 
Gordiida;. 
gordian (g6r'di-an), v. t. [< Gordian, a., in al- 
lusion to the Gordian knot.] To tie or bind up ; 
knot. [Only in the following passage.] 
Locks bright enough to make me mad ; 
And they were simply yordian'd up and braided, 
Leaving, in naked comeliness, unshaded, 
Her pearl round ears, white neck, and orbed brow. 
Keats, Endymion, i. 
gprdii, w. Plural of gordius, 2. 
Gordildse (g6r-di'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Gordius 
+ -ides.'] A family of nematoid worms; the 
hairworms. They have an elongated filiform body with 
a ventral cord and without oral papilla;, the mouth and 
anterior part of the alimentary canal obliterated in the 
adult, the paired ovaries and testes opening with the anus 
near the posterior end of the body ; the tail of the male 
is forked, without spicules. Also Gordiadaz, Gordiacea. 
In the young stage they live in the body cavity of pre- 
datory insects, and are provided with a mouth. At the 
pairing time they pass into the water, where they become 
sexually mature. The embryos, which are provided with 
a circle of spines, bore through the egg membrane, mi- 
grate into insect larvae, and there encyst. Water beetles 
and other predatory aquatic insects eat . . . the encysted 
young forms, which then develop in the body cavity of 
their new and larger host to young Gordiidce. 
Claus, Zoology (trans.), I. 356. 
Gordius (gor'di-us), . [NL., < L. Gordius 
(so. nodus), the Gordian knot, in allusion to 
the complex 
knots into 
which these 
The Young Variable Gordius, after escaping 
from the egg, highly magnified. 
a, the worm beginning to protrude the oral 
apparatus ; b, the first circle of hook lets border- 
ing the collar reflected, and protrusion of the 
second circle of booklets and the style ; c, com- 
plete protrusion of both circles of hooklets and 
the style. (After Leidy.) 
see Gordian.'] 
1. The typi- 
cal genus 
of thread- 
worms of the 
family Gordi- 
ida!; the hair- 
worms or 
hair-eels. A 
common spe- 
cies is called G. 
aquaticus. These 
creatures are so 
slender that they 
are popularly supposed to be animated horse-hairs, or to 
be produced from horse-hairs which fall into the water. 
2. [I. c. ; pi. gordii (-1).] A species or an indi- 
vidual of the genus Gordius; a gordian. 
Gordonia (g6r-do'ni-a), . [NL., named after 
James Gordon, a London nurseryman of the 
18th century.] 
A ternstroemia- 
ceous genus, of 
two species, 
very ornamen- 
tal evergreen 
shrubs or small 
trees of the 
southern Unit- 
ed States, with 
large white 
flowers. The lob- 
lolly bay, 6. La#iantkus, is found near the coast from Vir- 
ginia to the Mississippi, and Its light, soft, reddish wood 
Flower of Gordonia fttoescftts. 
