Part 4809

<blockquote>Instead of a stomacher, a <b>girding</b> of sackcloth. <i>Is. iii. 24.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Girdle</h1> <Xpage=626>

<hw>Gir"dle</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>A griddle.</def> <mark>[Scot. & Prov. Eng.]</mark>

<h1>Girdle</h1> <Xpage=626>

<hw>Gir"dle</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[OE. <ets>gurdel</ets>, <ets>girdel</ets>, AS. <ets>gyrdel</ets>, fr. <ets>gyrdan</ets>; akin to D. <ets>gordel</ets>, G. <ets>g\'81rtel</ets>, Icel. <ets>gyr<?/ill</ets>. See <er>Gird</er>, <tt>v. t.</tt>, to encircle, and cf. <er>Girth</er>, <tt>n.</tt>]</ety>

<p><b>1.</b> <def>That which girds, encircles, or incloses; a circumference; a belt; esp., a belt, sash, or article of dress encircling the body usually at the waist; a cestus.</def>

<blockquote> Within the <b>girdle</b> of these walls. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>Their breasts girded with golden <b>girdles</b>. <i>Rev. xv. 6.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The zodiac; also, the equator.</def> <mark>[Poetic]</mark>

<i>Bacon.</i>

<blockquote>From the world's <b>girdle</b> to the frozen pole. <i>Cowper.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>That gems the starry <b>girdle</b> of the year. <i>Campbell.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Jewelry)</fld> <def>The line ofgreatest circumference of a brilliant-cut diamond, at which it is grasped by the setting. See <i>Illust</i>. of <er>Brilliant</er>.</def>

<i>Knight.</i>

<p><b>4.</b> <fld>(Mining)</fld> <def>A thin bed or stratum of stone.</def>

<i>Raymond.</i>

<p><b>5.</b> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld> <def>The clitellus of an earthworm.</def>

<cs><col>Girdle bone</col> <fld>(Anat.)</fld>, <cd>the sphenethmoid. See under <er>Sphenethmoid</er>.</cd> -- <col>Girdle wheel</col>, <cd>a spinning wheel.</cd> -- <col>Sea girdle</col> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld>, <cd>a ctenophore. See <cref>Venus's girdle</cref>, under <er>Venus</er>.</cd> -- <mcol><col>Shoulder</col>, <col>Pectoral</col>, &and; <col>Pelvic</col>, <col>girdle</col></mcol>. <fld>(Anat.)</fld> <cd>See under <er>Pectoral</er>, and <er>Pelvic</er>.</cd> -- <col>To have under the girdle</col>, <cd>to have bound to one, that is, in subjection.</cd></cs>

<h1>Girdle</h1> <Xpage=626>

<hw>Gir"dle</hw>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>imp. & p. p.</tt> <er>Girdled</er> <tt>(?)</tt>; <tt>p. pr. & vb. n.</tt> <er>Girdling</er> <tt>(?)</tt>.]</wordforms> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To bind with a belt or sash; to gird.</def>

<i>Shak.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To inclose; to environ; to shut in.</def>

<blockquote>Those sleeping stones, That as a waist doth <b>girdle</b> you about. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>To make a cut or gnaw a groove around (a tree, etc.) through the bark and alburnum, thus killing it.</def> <mark>[U. S.]</mark>

<h1>Girdler</h1> <Xpage=626>

<hw>Gir"dler</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>One who girdles.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>A maker of girdles.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld> <def>An American longicorn beetle (<spn>Oncideres cingulatus</spn>) which lays its eggs in the twigs of the hickory, and then girdles each branch by gnawing a groove around it, thus killing it to provide suitable food for the larv\'91.</def>