<B>gaffe, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a blunder; faux pas. <BR> <I>Ex. Knowing nothing, you might easily make a bad gaffe (Comptom Mackenzie).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gaffer">
<B>gaffer</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who gaffs fish. </DL>
<A NAME="gaffer">
<B>gaffer</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an old man. <DD><B> 2. </B>(British.) the foreman of a gang of workmen. <DD><B> 3. </B>a person in charge of a shop of glass blowers. <BR> <I>Ex. For the last 10 years he has been a gaffer ... fashioning vases, bowls, or candlesticks out of red-hot crystal glass (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a person who supervises the control and proper lighting of motion-picture or television sets and actors. </DL>
<A NAME="gaffle">
<B>gaffle, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a lever for bending a crossbow. <DD><B> 2. </B>an artificial spur for a gamecock. </DL>
<A NAME="gaffrigged">
<B>gaff-rigged, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having one or more sails extended at the top by gaffs. <BR> <I>Ex. a gaff-rigged schooner.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gafttopsail">
<B>gaft-topsail, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a topsail set above a gaff by which its foot is extended. </DL>
<A NAME="gafftopsailcatfish">
<B>gaff-topsail catfish,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a marine catfish of Atlantic shore waters. </DL>
<A NAME="gag">
<B>gag, </B>noun, verb, <B>gagged,</B> <B>gagging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>something put in a person's mouth to keep him from talking or crying out. <BR> <I>Ex. Untie his feet; pull out his gag; he will chocke else (Fletcher and Shirley).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) anything used to silence a person or persons; a restraint or hindrance to free speech. <BR> <I>Ex. Imagine, if you can, his indignant eloquence had England offered to put a gag upon his lips (Wendell Phillips).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal.) an amusing remark or trick; joke. <BR> <I>Ex. The clown's gags made the audience laugh.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(U.S., Figurative.) (in a legislative body) a law or ruling designed to restrict or prevent discussion on a particular sublect. <DD><B> 5. </B>a device for keeping the jaws open during surgery. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to stop up the mouth of with a gag; keep from talking or crying out with a gag. <BR> <I>Ex. The robbers tied the watchman's arms and gagged his mouth.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to force to keep silent; restrain or hinder from free speech. <BR> <I>Ex. The time was not yet come when eloquence was to be gagged (Macaulay).</I> (SYN) silence, suppress. <DD><B> 3. </B>to cause to choke or strain in an effort to vomit. <DD><B> 4. </B>to put a device into (the mouth) to keep the jaws open. <DD><B> 5. </B>to choke up (a valve or other opening). <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal.) to introduce additional gags into (a performance or script). <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to strain in an effort to vomit; retch. <BR> <I>Ex. Bad-tasting medicines made him gag.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) <DD><B> a. </B>to tell or make gags; joke. <BR> <I>Ex. Even when he quit gagging, his audience sometimes kept on laughing (Time).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to introduce additional gags in a performance or script. <DD><B> c. </B>to make fun of a person's readiness to believe by telling false stories. noun <B>gagger.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gaga">
<B>gaga, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) <DD><B> 1. </B>silly; foolish; doting. <BR> <I>Ex. The conventional pictures of a young man and a young woman looking gaga at each other (Sunday Express).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>very enthusiastic; crazy. <BR> <I>Ex. They were thoroughly gaga about the show.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gagaku">
<B>gagaku, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the classical ceremonial or court music of Japan. </DL>
<A NAME="gagbit">
<B>gagbit, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a powerful bit for breaking horses. </DL>
<A NAME="gagcartoon">
<B>gag cartoon,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a humorous cartoon consisting of a single picture with or without a gag line. <BR> <I>Ex. The gag cartoon is primarily a literary and not a visual trick (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gage">
<B>gage</B> (1), noun, verb, <B>gaged,</B> <B>gaging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a pledge to fight; challenge. <BR> <I>Ex. The knight threw down his gauntlet as a gage of battle.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a glove or other object thrown down as a challenge to combat. <DD><B> 3. </B>a pledge; security. <BR> <I>Ex. The knight left a diamond as a gage for the horse and armor he borrowed.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> (Archaic.) to offer as a pledge or security; wager. <BR> <I>Ex. I'll gage my silver wand of state (Scott).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gage">
<B>gage</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any of several varieties of plum, especially the greenage. </DL>
<B>G-agent, </B>noun, or <B>G agent,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a nerve gas. <BR> <I>Ex. They are often called G-agents because the original compounds came from Germany (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gaggle">
<B>gaggle, </B>verb, <B>-gled,</B> <B>-gling,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> to make the cry of a goose; cackle. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the cry of a goose; cackle. <DD><B> 2. </B>a flock of geese. <DD><B> 3. </B>(U.S. Informal, Figurative.) a group of persons or things. <BR> <I>Ex. A gaggle of glorious young ladies (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gaggy">
<B>gaggy, </B>adjective, <B>-gier,</B> <B>-giest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) having many, especially too many, gags or jokes. </DL>
<A NAME="gaglaw">
<B>gag law =gag rule.</B></DL>
<A NAME="gagline">
<B>gag line,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a brief humorous statement or text, such as the caption of a cartoon, or a punch line. </DL>
<A NAME="gagman">
<B>gagman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who makes up jokes or comic situations for comedians. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=comedian.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gagorder">
<B>gag order,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a court order prohibiting reporting or public comments on a case before a court of law. <BR> <I>Ex. The Supreme Court ... refused to interfere with a judge's gag order on lawyers and other participants in a criminal trial (C. Herman Pritchett).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gagrule">
<B>gag rule,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a rule or law for preventing or restricting debate of a particular subject, especially in a legislative body; gag law. </DL>
<A NAME="gagster">
<B>gagster, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a person fond of gags and jokes; humorist. <DD><B> 2. </B>an inventor of gags. </DL>
<A NAME="gagstrip">
<B>gag strip,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a comic strip without a continuous story. </DL>
<B>gahnite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a dark-colored mineral containing aluminum and zinc in octahedral crystals. </DL>
<A NAME="gaia">
<B>Gaia, </B>noun. <B>=Gaea.</B></DL>
<A NAME="gaiahypothesis">
<B>Gaia hypothesis</B> or <B>theory,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the theory that the planet earth is the core of a unified living system which regulates itself much like an organism does. <BR> <I>Ex. It is the Gaia theory's insistence that the earth is a self-controlling, whole system, not a conglomeration of disconnected parts and discontinuous functions, that has drawn the interests of scientists (Lawrence E. Joseph).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gaiety">
<B>gaiety, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the state or quality of being gay; cheerful liveliness; merriment; joyousness. <BR> <I>Ex. Her gaiety helped to make the party a success.</I> (SYN) jollity, joviality. <DD><B> 2. </B>gay entertainment. <BR> <I>Ex. the gaieties of a country fair.</I> (SYN) merrymaking. <DD><B> 3. </B>a bright appearance; finery; showiness. <BR> <I>Ex. gaiety of dress.</I> <DD> Also, <B>gayety.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gaijin">
<B>gaijin, </B>noun, pl. <B>-jin.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Japanese.) a foreigner; alien. </DL>
<A NAME="gaikwar">
<B>Gaikwar, </B>noun. <B>=Gaekwar.</B></DL>
<A NAME="gaillardia">
<B>gaillardia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of a group of hardy plants of the composite family whose showy flowers have purple centers and red or yellow rays, often with purple bases. <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of their large daisylike flowers. </DL>
<A NAME="gaily">
<B>gaily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>in a gay manner; happily; merrily; cheerfully. <BR> <I>Ex. Addison wrote his papers as gaily as if he was going out for a holiday (Thackeray).</I> (SYN) joyously, festively. <DD><B> 2. </B>brightly; showily. <BR> <I>Ex. She was gaily dressed in a colorful costume.</I> <DD> Also, <B>gayly.</B> </DL>
