📖 G — The English dictionary · page 10

gibbon — Everyday, meaning 1: A gibbon is a small ape with very long arms and no tail that lives in the rainforests of Southeast Asia and swings quickly from branch to branch through the trees.↗ Example: The gibbon swung from branch to branch at high speed.↗ · Gibbons sing loud songs every morning.↗ · A gibbon's arms are longer than its legs.↗ · Gibbons do not have tails.↗ · The gibbon pair sang together to tell others to keep away.↗ · Gibbons live in the forests of Southeast Asia.↗ · Many kinds of gibbons are in danger because of logging.↗ · At the zoo we watched the gibbons swinging on ropes.↗

gibbous — Everyday, meaning 1: A gibbous moon is more than half lit but not yet full, so it looks like a bulging circle.↗ Example: Tonight the moon is gibbous.↗ · A waxing gibbous moon is getting bigger each night.↗ · After the full moon comes the waning gibbous moon.↗ · Draw the eight phases of the moon, including the gibbous ones.↗ · The gibbous moon lit up the garden.↗ · A gibbous moon is more than half but less than full.↗

gibe — Everyday, meaning 1: A gibe is a mocking remark, meant to hurt someone's feelings or make them look foolish.↗ Example: He ignored the gibes of the other boys.↗ · Her cruel gibes made him cry.↗ · The king laughed at the gibe.↗

giddily — Everyday, meaning 1: Giddily means in a dizzy, wild or silly way, as if one's head is spinning.↗ Example: The children spun giddily on the grass.↗ · The donkey pranced giddily round the table.↗ · She laughed giddily and fell over.↗

giddy — Everyday, meaning 1: Feeling that everything is spinning and you might fall; dizzy.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: So happy and excited that you feel silly and cannot keep calm.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (old-fashioned) Silly and not serious: «a giddy girl».↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Making you dizzy: «a giddy height».↗ Example: I felt giddy after spinning round and round.↗ · We were giddy with excitement on the last day of school.↗ · Looking down from the tower made me giddy.↗ · «Being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing,» said Alice, feeling giddy.↗ · Sit down if you feel giddy.↗ · «My giddy aunt!» cried Gran when she saw the mess.↗ · Jack was a giddy, thoughtless boy, but very kind-hearted and affectionate.↗

gift — Everyday, meaning 1: A gift is something you give to someone without asking for money, like a present for a birthday.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A gift is also a special talent you are born with, like a gift for music.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To gift something is to give it as a present.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Gifted means very clever or talented.↗ Example: She bought 4 gifts for 5 dollars each.↗ · Tom wraps 12 gifts.↗ · Each gift needs 2 metres of ribbon.↗ · He got 3 gifts from his aunt.↗ · I wrote a thank-you card for every gift.↗ · Maya has a gift for drawing animals.↗ · The museum gift shop sells postcards.↗ · The fairy gave the princess three gifts.↗ · The gift of laughing was given to man alone.↗ · Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the LORD a portion for a gift throughout your generations.↗ (Torah NUM.15.21, JPS 1917)↗ · And thou shalt take no gift; for a gift blindeth them that have sight, and perverteth the words of the righteous.↗ (Torah EXO.23.8, JPS 1917)↗ · Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me; but give me the damsel to wife.'↗ (Torah GEN.34.12, JPS 1917)↗ · A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.↗ (Writings PRO.18.16, JPS 1917)↗ · A gift in secret pacifieth anger, and a present in the bosom strong wrath.↗ (Writings PRO.21.14, JPS 1917)↗ · The king by justice establisheth the land; but he that exacteth gifts overthroweth it.↗ (Writings PRO.29.4, JPS 1917)↗

gig — Everyday, meaning 1: (informal) A live music show or performance by a band or comedian.↗ e.g. We went to a gig.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (informal) A job, especially a short or one-off one: a summer gig.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (informal) Short for gigabyte: a 64-gig phone.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (old) A light two-wheeled carriage pulled by one horse.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: (verb, informal) To play live music shows.↗ Example: My brother's band is playing its first gig on Friday.↗ · We went to a gig at the town hall.↗ · Mum got a gig painting a mural.↗ · This tablet has 128 gigs of storage.↗ · The comedian had a gig in Dublin.↗ · In the old story, the doctor drove a pony and gig.↗

gigantic — Everyday, meaning 1: Gigantic means extremely big, like a giant.↗ Example: A gigantic wave crashed onto the beach.↗ · The blue whale is a gigantic animal.↗ · We saw gigantic footprints in the mud.↗ · Dad made a gigantic pile of pancakes.↗ · The giant lived in a gigantic castle.↗ · Jupiter is a gigantic planet.↗ · Some dinosaurs were gigantic, but others were as small as chickens.↗ · One day a Rakshasa appears in the form of a gigantic crane.↗

gigantism — Everyday, meaning 1: (medicine) A rare condition in which a child grows far taller than usual, usually because a gland in the brain makes too much growth hormone.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Being very large in size, for example animals or plants that are much bigger than their relatives (island gigantism).↗ Example: Robert Wadlow, the tallest man ever recorded, had gigantism.↗ · Gigantism is caused by too much growth hormone in childhood.↗ · Doctors can treat gigantism if they find it early.↗ · The giant tortoises of the Galapagos are an example of island gigantism.↗ · Some dinosaurs show a kind of gigantism.↗ · The giant weta of New Zealand is a famous case of gigantism in insects.↗

giggle — Everyday, meaning 1: To laugh in a quick, high, silly way, often because something is funny or because you are nervous or shy.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (noun) A laugh like that.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (the giggles) A time when you cannot stop giggling.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (UK informal, a giggle) Something fun: «It was a good giggle».↗ Example: The babies giggled when I made funny faces.↗ · We got the giggles during assembly and couldn't stop.↗ · She gave a nervous giggle.↗ · Please stop giggling and get on with your work.↗ · The jokes made everyone giggle.↗ · They were giggling about a secret.↗ · Tickling makes my sister giggle.↗ · And the reporters giggled, and each dropped a blot of ink on the floor.↗

gilbert — Everyday, meaning 1: (a name) A boy's or man's first name, or a surname.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (science, rare) An old unit used to measure magnetic force.↗ Example: Gilbert Blythe teased Anne in «Anne of Green Gables».↗ · My great-grandad was called Gilbert.↗ · Gilbert and Sullivan wrote funny songs and operas.↗ · The Gilbert Islands are in the Pacific Ocean.↗ · Gilbert is in my class this year.↗ · Sir Hum-phrey Gilbert was one of the first men who tried to make a set-tle-ment in A-mer-i-ca.↗

gilded — Everyday, meaning 1: Covered with a thin layer of gold or gold-coloured paint.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Looking rich and fancy, sometimes only on the outside: a gilded life.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (phrase) «A gilded cage» means a comfortable, rich life where you are not free.↗ Example: The portrait hung in a gilded frame.↗ · The palace had gilded ceilings and huge mirrors.↗ · The princess lived in a gilded cage and longed to go outside.↗ · The church dome is gilded and shines in the sun.↗ · Autumn leaves gilded the park with gold.↗ · The Gilded Age was a time of millionaires and factories in America.↗ · The youngest saw the gilded star, and ran and pulled it off the tree.↗

gilding — Everyday, meaning 1: Gilding is a thin layer of gold, or of a gold-coloured paint, put on the surface of something to make it shine.↗ Example: The gilding on the frame had faded.↗ · Under the gilding, the box was only wood.↗ · The king's chair had a bright gilding.↗

gill — Everyday, meaning 1: Gills are the body parts that fish and some other water animals use to breathe; they take oxygen from the water.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Gills are also the thin lines under the cap of a mushroom.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (old, informal) Gills can also mean a person's cheeks or face, as in "pale to the gills", meaning very pale with fear.↗ Example: Fish breathe through their gills.↗ · Tadpoles have gills, but frogs have lungs.↗ · The shark's gills look like slits.↗ · Whales do not have gills.↗ · Look at the gills under the mushroom cap.↗ · Water flows over the gills to give oxygen.↗ · After the boat ride he looked green around the gills.↗ · A fish out of water cannot breathe with its gills.↗ · In that supreme moment Hook did not blanch, even at the gills, but Smee and Starkey clung to each other in terror.↗

gillie — Everyday, meaning 1: (old use) A gillie was a male servant who helped a hunter or fisherman, especially in Scotland.↗ Example: The gillies led the horses to the river.↗ · The king sent his gillies to find the lost dog.↗ · Two gillies carried the hunter's bag.↗

gilt — Everyday, meaning 1: Gilt means covered with a thin layer of gold or gold colour.↗ Example: She wore gilt shoes to the ball.↗ · The gilt frame hung on the wall.↗ · The horse had a silver-gilt bridle.↗

gimlet — Everyday, meaning 1: A gimlet is a small hand tool with a sharp, twisted point, used for boring small holes in wood.↗ Example: The carpenter bored a hole with his gimlet.↗ · I need a gimlet to start the screw.↗ · The rabbit fetched a gimlet from the cupboard.↗

gin — Everyday, meaning 1: Gin is a strong, clear alcoholic drink flavoured with juniper berries; it is for adults only.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A cotton gin is a machine that separates cotton fibres from the seeds.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (old) A gin is a trap or snare for catching animals.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Gin, or gin rummy, is a card game.↗ Example: Gin is an alcoholic drink for grown-ups.↗ · Grandma had a gin and tonic at the party.↗ · Eli Whitney's cotton gin cleaned cotton much faster than people could by hand.↗ · The cotton gin changed farming in the American South.↗ · We played gin rummy on the rainy holiday.↗ · In the old story, the rabbit was caught in a gin.↗ · Alcohol like gin is not safe for children.↗ · A gin shall take him by the heel, and a snare shall lay hold on him.↗ (Writings JOB.18.9, JPS 1917)↗ · Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, and from the gins of the workers of iniquity.↗ (Writings PSA.141.9, JPS 1917)↗ · The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me.↗ (Writings PSA.140.6, JPS 1917)↗

ginger — Everyday, meaning 1: A plant root with a hot, spicy taste, used in cooking and drinks: ginger biscuits.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (adjective) Orange-brown in colour, especially hair or a cat's fur: a ginger cat.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (informal, UK, sometimes unkind) A person with red or orange hair.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: «ginger beer», «ginger ale» = fizzy drinks made with ginger.↗ Example: We made a gingerbread man with raisin eyes.↗ · Ginger tea helps when you feel sick.↗ · Our ginger cat sleeps on the windowsill.↗ · Ginger biscuits are good for dunking in tea.↗ · Grate a little fresh ginger into the soup.↗ · He has ginger hair and freckles.↗ · Costly spices grew on the shores: the pepper plant, the cinnamon tree, ginger, saffron; the coffee plant and the tea plant.↗

gingerbread — Everyday, meaning 1: A sweet, spicy cake or biscuit flavoured with ginger, often with treacle or golden syrup.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A biscuit cut into a shape, especially a person (a gingerbread man), often decorated with icing.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (old use) Fancy carved decoration on a building, as in a «gingerbread house» style.↗ Example: We baked gingerbread men for the class party.↗ · «Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!»↗ · The witch's house was made of gingerbread.↗ · The kitchen smelled of warm gingerbread.↗ · We decorated a gingerbread house at Christmas.↗ · If 12 gingerbread men are shared between 4 children, each gets 3.↗ · The carriage was lined inside with sugar-plums, and in the seats were fruits and gingerbread.↗

gingerly — Everyday, meaning 1: Very carefully and slowly, because you are afraid of hurting yourself or breaking something, or of what might happen.↗ Example: She stepped gingerly onto the frozen pond.↗ · He touched his bruised knee gingerly.↗ · Mole climbed gingerly into the boat.↗ · Alice picked up the bottle gingerly.↗ · The vet lifted the hurt puppy gingerly.↗ · We walked gingerly across the wobbly bridge.↗ · He gingerly opened the box to see what was inside.↗ · He held it gingerly for a few moments.↗

gingham — Everyday, meaning 1: Gingham is a cotton cloth woven in a pattern of checks or stripes, often blue and white.↗ Example: She wore a blue gingham dress.↗ · The tablecloth was white and red gingham.↗ · Mother sewed a gingham apron.↗

ginkgo — Everyday, meaning 1: A tall tree with fan-shaped leaves that turn bright yellow in autumn; it is called a living fossil because trees like it grew in the time of the dinosaurs.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A medicine or supplement made from its leaves (ginkgo biloba).↗ Example: The ginkgo in the park turns golden yellow in autumn.↗ · Ginkgo leaves look like little fans.↗ · Ginkgo trees were around when dinosaurs lived.↗ · Some ginkgo trees survived the bomb in Hiroshima.↗ · Grandma takes ginkgo tablets, but you should only take medicine an adult gives you.↗ · The seeds of a female ginkgo tree smell very bad.↗

gipsy — Everyday, meaning 1: (old, can be offensive) An old word for a member of the Romani people, who came to Europe from India long ago and many of whom lived and travelled in caravans.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: In The Wind in the Willows, Toad sells the horse he has taken to a gipsy for six shillings and sixpence and a hot breakfast; Toad's caravan is a «gipsy caravan».↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Used in some names, like the gipsy moth.↗ Example: Toad sold the horse to a gipsy who was sitting by the road.↗ · Toad's painted caravan was called a gipsy caravan.↗ · Romani people came to Europe from India hundreds of years ago.↗ · Today we say Roma or Travellers rather than gipsies.↗ · The gipsy made a stew in a pot over the fire.↗ · The gipsy moth has hairy caterpillars.↗ · Then up there came a gipsy, blind of one eye.↗