Part 497

Swinburne.

Gire (?), n. [Obs.] See Gyre.

Gir"kin (?), n. [Obs.] See Gherkin.

Girl (?), n. [OE. girle, gerle, gurle, a girl (in sense 1): cf. LG. gˆr child.]

1. A young person of either sex; a child. [Obs.] Chaucer.

2. A female child, from birth to the age of puberty; a young maiden.

3. A female servant; a maidservant. [U. S.]

4. (Zoˆl.) A roebuck two years old. [Prov. Eng.]

Girl"hood (?), n. State or time of being a girl.

Girl"ish, a. Like, or characteristic of, a girl; of or pertaining to girlhood; innocent; artless; immature; weak; as, girlish ways; girlish grief. -- Girl"ish*ly, adv. -- Girl"ish*ness, n.

Gir"lond (?), n. [See Garland, n.] A garland; a prize. [Obs.] Chapman.

Girn (?), v. i. [See Grin, n.] To grin. [Obs.]

Gi*ron"dist (?), n. [F. Girondiste.] A member of the moderate republican party formed in the French legislative assembly in 1791. The Girondists were so called because their leaders were deputies from the department of La Gironde.

Gi*ron"dist, a. Of or pertaining to the Girondists. [Written also Girondin.]

Gir"rock (?), n. [Cf. Prov. F. chicarou.] (Zoˆl.) A garfish. Johnson.

Girt (?), imp. & p. p. of Gird.

Girt, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Girted; p. pr. & vb. n. Girting.] [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.] To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree.

We here create thee the first duke of Suffolk, And girt thee with the sword.

Shak.

Girt, a. (Naut.) Bound by a cable; -- used of a vessel so moored by two anchors that she swings against one of the cables by force of the current or tide.

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Girt (grt), n. Same as Girth.

Girth (grth), n. [Icel. gjˆr girdle, or ger girth; akin to Goth. gaÌrda girdle. See Gird to girt, and cf. Girdle, n.] 1. A band or strap which encircles the body; especially, one by which a saddle is fastened upon the back of a horse.

2. The measure round the body, as at the waist or belly; the circumference of anything.

He's a lu sty, jolly fellow, that lives well, at least three yards in the girth.

Addison.

3. A small horizontal brace or girder.

Girth, v. t. [From Girth, n., cf. Girt, v. t.] To bind as with a girth. [R.] Johnson.