<B>G</B> (1) or <B>g, </B>noun, pl. <B>G's</B> or <B>Gs,</B> <B>g's</B> or <B>gs.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the seventh letter of the English alphabet. There are two <I>g</I>'s in <I>egg.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any sound represented by this letter. <DD><B> 3. </B>(used as a symbol for) the seventh (of an actual or possible series). <BR> <I>Ex. row G in a theater.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a grade in some schools that stands for <I>good,</I> usually equivalent to a B. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Music.) <DD><B> a. </B>the fifth tone of the scale of C major. <DD><B> b. </B>a symbol representing this tone. <DD><B> c. </B>a key, string, etc., that produces this tone. <DD><B> d. </B>the scale or key that has G as its keynote. <BR> <I>Ex. a concerto in G.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Physics.) acceleration of gravity (about 32 feet per second per second, the unit of force exerted on a body by the pull of gravity. The force exerted on a body at rest at the earth's surface is 1 G). An accelerating body may experience a force of several Gs. <BR> <I>Ex. As the sled decelerated, [he] was subjected to more than 40 times the pull of gravity (40 gs); his normal weight of 168 1/2 lbs. momentarily shot up to 6,740 lbs. (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="g">
<B>G</B> (2), noun, pl. <B>G's.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> anything shaped like the letter G. </DL>
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<B>G</B> (3), noun, pl. <B>G's</B> or <B>Gs.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) a thousand dollars. <BR> <I>Ex. His phone bill alone last year must have come to twenty Gs (Maclean's).</I> </DL>
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<B>g</B> (no period),<DL COMPACT><DD> an abbreviation or symbol for the following: <DD><B> 1. </B>(Electricity.) conductance. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Psychology.) general intelligence. <DD><B> 3. </B>giga-. <DD><B> 4. </B>gilbert or gilberts. <DD><B> 5. </B>grain. <DD><B> 6. </B>gram or grams. </DL>
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<B>g.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an abbreviation or symbol for the following: <DD><B> 1. </B>gauge. <DD><B> 2. </B>gender. <DD><B> 3. </B>genitive. <DD><B> 4. </B>goalie. <DD><B> 5. </B>grain. <DD><B> 6. </B>gram or grams. <DD><B> 7. </B>gravity. </DL>
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<B>G</B> (no period),<DL COMPACT><DD> an abbreviation for the following: <DD><B> 1. </B>(Electricity.) conductance. <DD><B> 2. </B>General (a symbol used in the United States for motion pictures recommended to the general public). <DD><B> 3. </B>German. <DD><B> 4. </B>the universal constant of gravitation. <DD><B> 5. </B>guanine. <DD><B> 6. </B>specific gravity. </DL>
<B>G-7, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the Group of Seven (industrialized countries, including Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States). <BR> <I>Ex. a session in Houston of the G-7--shorthand for the group of seven major hard-currency countries (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
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<B>g.a.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> general average. </DL>
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<B>Ga, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a member of a people in West Africa, speaking a Sudanese language. <DD><B> 2. </B>the language. </DL>
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<B>Ga</B> (no period),<DL COMPACT><DD> gallium (chemical element). </DL>
<B>GA</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>General American. <BR> <I>Ex. For convenience the following abbreviations will be used for the major speech areas: ... GA for General American (C. K. Thomas).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>Georgia (with postal Zip code). </DL>
<B>gab</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) the mouth. </DL>
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<B>gab</B> (3), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (in machines) a hook, especially on the rod transmitting the motion of an eccentric. </DL>
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<B>GABA, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an amino acid occurring in the central nervous system, associated with the transmission of nerve impulses. </DL>
<A NAME="gabardine">
<B>gabardine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a closely woven, woolen, cotton, or rayon cloth used for raincoats, suits, dresses, slacks, and other garments. Gabardine has small, diagonal ribs on its surface. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=gaberdine </B>(def. 1). </DL>
<A NAME="gabbai">
<B>gabbai, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an official in a synagogue. <DD><B> 2. </B>the treasurer of a synagogue. </DL>
<A NAME="gabbart">
<B>gabbart, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Dialect.) a barge; lighter. </DL>
<A NAME="gabble">
<B>gabble, </B>verb, <B>-bled,</B> <B>-bling,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to talk rapidly and noisily with little or no meaning; jabber. <BR> <I>Ex. We were nervous of Mr. Cookeem, feeling we had not the correct entree or visa as he waited while customers were served and he and they gabbled in some unrecognizable tongue (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to make rapid, meaningless sounds; cackle. <BR> <I>Ex. the noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool (Oliver Goldsmith).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to utter rapidly with little or no meaning; babble. <BR> <I>Ex. At times the words were so gabbled that it was impossible to catch them (Manchester Guardian).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>rapid and noisy talk with little or no meaning; babble. <BR> <I>Ex. Richards' ... dialogue carries conviction, particularly the snatched gabbles of a man whose thoughts are elsewhere being overheard on the telephone (Punch).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>rapid, meaningless noises made by animals. <BR> <I>Ex. The turtles stun one with their yawning gabble (Leigh Hunt).</I> noun <B>gabbler.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gabbro">
<B>gabbro, </B>noun, pl. <B>-bros.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a group of granular igneous rocks, greenish-gray to black, containing pyroxene and triclinic feldspar. </DL>
<A NAME="gabbroic">
<B>gabbroic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of the nature of gabbro. <BR> <I>Ex. gabbroic rocks.</I> </DL>
<B>gabelle, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a tax, especially a tax on salt in France before the Revolution of 1789. </DL>
<A NAME="gaberdine">
<B>gaberdine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a man's long, loose, outer garment or cloak. Gaberdines were worn in the Middle Ages. <BR> <I>Ex. You ... spit upon my Jewish gaberdine (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=gabardine </B>(def. 1). </DL>
<A NAME="gaberlunzie">
<B>gaberlunzie, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a wallet or pouch carried by beggars for receiving contributions. <DD><B> 2. </B>a strolling beggar; mendicant. <BR> <I>Ex. barking at a gaberlunzie (Scott).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gabfest">
<B>gabfest, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially U.S. Informal.) an informal talk; a chat. </DL>
<A NAME="gabion">
<B>gabion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a cylinder of wicker filled with earth, formerly used as a military defense. In modern warfare, sandbags are used in place of gabions. <DD><B> 2. </B>a metal cylinder filled with stones, used in building dams, supporting bridge foundations, or the like. </DL>
<A NAME="gabionade">
<B>gabionade, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a work made of or with gabions. </DL>
<A NAME="gabioned">
<B>gabioned, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having gabions or something resembling gabions; protected with or as with gabions. </DL>
<A NAME="gable">
<B>gable, </B>noun, verb, <B>-bled,</B> <B>-bling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the end of a ridged roof, with the three-cornered piece of wall that it covers. <BR> <I>Ex. Thatched were the roofs, with dormer windows; and gables projecting Over the basement below protected and shaded the doorway (Longfellow).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an end wall with a gable. <DD><B> 3. </B>a triangular ornament or canopy over a door, window, or the like. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to make (a roof) end with a gable or gables. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to form gables. adj. <B>gablelike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gabled">
<B>gabled, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> built with a gable or gables; having or forming gables. <BR> <I>Ex. the gabled ends of a house.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gableend">
<B>gable end,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an end wall with a gable. </DL>
<A NAME="gableroof">
<B>gable roof,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a roof that forms a gable at one or both ends. </DL>
<A NAME="gablewindow">
<B>gable window,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a window built in or under a gable. <DD><B> 2. </B>a window with its upper part shaped like a gable. </DL>
<A NAME="gabline">
<B>gab line,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a telephone service that provides a person with another party or parties to have a conversation for a fixed charge per minute; talk line. <BR> <I>Ex. He might have ... the opportunity to listen in on 976-MEET, ... or almost any of the other so-called gab lines (Philadelphia Inquirer).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gabonese">
<B>Gabonese, </B>adjective, noun, pl. <B>-nese.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of Gabon, its people, or their languages. <DD><I>noun </I> a native of Gabon, a country in Central Africa. </DL>
<A NAME="gaboonviper">
<B>Gaboon viper,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a poisonous African snake related to the puff adder, often growing as long as six feet. </DL>
<A NAME="gabriel">
<B>Gabriel, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the archangel who acts as God's messenger in Jewish, Christian, and Moslem tradition. He is the angel of comfort and good news and of the Annunciation (in the Bible, Daniel 8-9; Luke 1:26-38). </DL>
<A NAME="gaby">
<B>gaby, </B>noun, pl. <B>-bies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a fool; simpleton. </DL>
<A NAME="gac">
<B>GAC</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> General Advisory Committee (of the Atomic Energy Commission). </DL>
