<B>gentisic acid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a crystalline substance found in the gentian and produced synthetically, used to relieve pain and induce sweating. </DL>
<A NAME="gentle">
<B>gentle, </B>adjective, <B>-tler,</B> <B>-tlest,</B> noun, verb, <B>-tled,</B> <B>-tling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>not severe, rough, or violent; mild. <BR> <I>Ex. a gentle tap.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>soft; low. <BR> <I>Ex. a gentle sound.</I> (SYN) soothing. <DD><B> 3. </B>not too much or too fast; not harsh or extreme; moderate. <BR> <I>Ex. gentle heat, a gentle slope.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>kindly; friendly. <BR> <I>Ex. a gentle disposition. For I have let men be, and have their way; Am much too gentle, have not used my power (Tennyson).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>easy to handle or manage. <BR> <I>Ex. a gentle dog.</I> (SYN) docile, tame, quiet. <DD><B> 6. </B>of good family and social position; wellborn. <DD><B> 7. </B>having or showing good manners; refined; polite. <DD><B> 8. </B>honorable; good; superior. <BR> <I>Ex. gentle birth, gentle blood, gentle breeding.</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>(of a wind in the National Weather Service wind scale) having a velocity of 8-12 miles per hour (on the Beaufort scale, force 3). <DD><B> 10. </B>(Archaic.) noble; gallant. <BR> <I>Ex. a gentle knight.</I> <DD><B> 11. </B>(Archaic.) courteous; kind. <BR> <I>Ex. gentle reader.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> (Archaic.) a person who is of gentle birth or rank. <BR> <I>Ex. Gentles, I would entreat you a courtesy (Scott).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to treat in a soothing way; make quiet or gentle. <BR> <I>Ex. The rider gentled his excited horse. This is accomplished ... through social controls and informal pressures which gentle down the extremists and prod along the laggards (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to tame; break in. <BR> <I>Ex. to gentle a colt.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) to raise from humble status; ennoble; dignify. <BR> <I>Ex. Be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to become gentle. <BR> <I>Ex. Some dogs gentle with age.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to move in a gentle, quiet way. <BR> <I>Ex. Bottom up ... the boat was another creature entirely ... and he gentled cautiously against it (Atlantic).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>gentle and simple,</B> </I>(Archaic.) people of high and low degree. <BR> <I>Ex. Gentle and simple of every clan ... (William Dunbar).</I> noun <B>gentleness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gentlefolk">
<B>gentlefolk, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> people of good family and social position; gentry. </DL>
<A NAME="gentlefolks">
<B>gentlefolks, </B>noun pl. <B>=gentlefolk.</B></DL>
<A NAME="gentlehearted">
<B>gentle-hearted, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> gentle in heart or disposition; mild; kindly. </DL>
<A NAME="gentlehood">
<B>gentlehood, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the character or breeding proper to gentle birth. </DL>
<A NAME="gentleman">
<B>gentleman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a man who is honorable and well-bred. <BR> <I>Ex. With such true breeding of a gentleman, You never could divine his real thought (Byron).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a man of fine feelings or instincts, shown by behavior and consideration for others. <BR> <I>Ex. It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain (Cardinal Newman).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a polite term for any man. <BR> <I>Ex. Being a gentleman who regards his own privacy as well as that of others as being inviolable, the author asks you not to expect any startling exposes (New York Times Book Review).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a man of good family and social position. <DD><B> 5. </B>(formerly) a man of gentle birth, especially, in England, one ranking above a yeoman and below the nobility. <DD><B> 6. </B>(British.) an amateur competitor in sports, as distinguished from a professional. <BR> <I>Ex. In the program, gentlemen were entitled to have their initials listed before their names; not so the players who were listed only by their surnames (Time).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>gentlemen,</B> </I>a polite term of address to a company of men of whatever rank (corresponding to <I>Sir</I> in the singular). <BR> <I>Ex. "Aha!" exclaimed the director. "... This way, gentlemen!" (Household Words).</I> adj. <B>gentle-manlike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gentlemanatarms">
<B>gentleman-at-arms, </B>noun, pl. <B>gentlemen-at-arms.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in England) one of forty gentlemen who act as guards or attendants to the sovereign on state occasions. </DL>
<A NAME="gentlemancommoner">
<B>gentleman-commoner, </B>noun, pl. <B>gentlemen-commoners.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one of a group of students who formerly had certain privileges at Oxford and Cambridge. </DL>
<A NAME="gentlemanfarmer">
<B>gentleman farmer,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a man who owns a farm and directs it as an avocation, not for income. </DL>
<A NAME="gentlemaninwaiting">
<B>gentleman in waiting,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a man of good family who attends a king, prince, or other person of high rank. </DL>
<A NAME="gentlemanly">
<B>gentlemanly, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> like a gentleman; suitable for a gentleman; polite; well-bred. noun <B>gentlemanliness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gentlemanoffortune">
<B>gentleman of fortune,</B> <B>=pirate.</B></DL>
<A NAME="gentlemanoftheroad">
<B>gentleman of the road,</B> <B>=highwayman.</B></DL>
<A NAME="gentlemanranker">
<B>gentleman ranker,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British Informal.) an enlisted man of aristocratic birth or background. </DL>
<A NAME="gentlemans">
<B>gentleman's</B> or <B>gentlemen's agreement,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an informal agreement that is not legally binding. Because it is not written, the people or parties that make it are bound only by their promise to keep it. <BR> <I>Ex. Even though the state of the press is vital to the state of the nation, there is a ... gentleman's agreement that no newspaper shall criticize or reflect upon another (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gentlemansgentleman">
<B>gentleman's gentleman,</B> <B>=valet.</B></DL>
<A NAME="gentlemanship">
<B>gentlemanship, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> character or conduct of a gentleman; gentlemanliness. </DL>
<A NAME="gentlemanusher">
<B>gentleman usher,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a gentleman employed as an usher at court or an attendant upon a person of rank. </DL>
<A NAME="gentlemen">
<B>gentlemen, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (pl.) See under <B>gentleman.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gentlepeople">
<B>Gentle People,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a term applied to any one of various groups of people noted for their nonviolent creed, such as the flower children and certain American Indians. </DL>
<A NAME="gentleperson">
<B>gentleperson, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a polite term for a man or woman; gentleman or gentlewoman. <BR> <I>Ex. The ideological egalitarianism of these gentlepersons is uninhibited by thought ... or by word refinement (National Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gentle">
<B>gentle</B> or <B>gentler sex,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> women collectively; womankind. </DL>
<A NAME="gentlewoman">
<B>gentlewoman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-women.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a woman of good family and social position. <DD><B> 2. </B>a well-bred woman; lady. <DD><B> 3. </B>a woman attendant of a lady of rank. </DL>
<A NAME="gentlewomanly">
<B>gentlewomanly, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> like or suitable for a gentlewoman. noun <B>gentlewomanliness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gently">
<B>gently, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>in a gentle way; tenderly; softly. <BR> <I>Ex. Handle the baby gently. [His] face shone gently with sweat in the dusky room (Graham Greene).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>gradually. <BR> <I>Ex. a gently sloping hillside.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gentlyborn">
<B>gently-born, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of gentle birth. </DL>
<A NAME="gentoo">
<B>gentoo, </B>noun, pl. <B>-toos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a penguin of the Falkland Islands. </DL>
<A NAME="gentoo">
<B>Gentoo, </B>noun, pl. <B>-toos,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a Hindu, especially, in southern India, one speaking Telugu. <DD><B> 2. </B>the language of the Gentoos; Telugu. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the Gentoos. </DL>
<A NAME="gentrice">
<B>gentrice, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic or Scottish.) <DD><B> 1. </B>gentle birth; noble descent or rank. <DD><B> 2. </B>gentle or honorable feeling; courtesy. </DL>
<A NAME="gentrification">
<B>gentrification, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act or process of increasing the value of real estate in a neighborhood or other area by selling its houses to buyers of greater means than the present owners or tenants. </DL>
<A NAME="gentrify">
<B>gentrify, </B>transitive verb, <B>-fied,</B> <B>-fying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to increase the value of real estate in (a neighborhood or other area) by gentrification. </DL>
<A NAME="gentrogenin">
<B>gentrogenin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a chemical derived from a wild Mexican yam, used as a source of cortisone. </DL>
<A NAME="gentry">
<B>gentry, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>people of good family and social position, belonging to the upper class of society. <BR> <I>Ex. It is the church of the gentry; but it is not the church of the poor (Emerson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the class in England below the nobility and above the yeomanry. <DD><B> 3. </B>the people of any particular group. <BR> <I>Ex. the sporting gentry.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Archaic.) rank by birth, especially high birth. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Obsolete:) good breeding. </DL>
<A NAME="gents">
<B>gents</B> or <B>gents', </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (pl. Slang.) a men's lavatory. <BR> <I>Ex. The "gents" appears to be the last sanctuary of male privilege (Alistair Cooke).</I> </DL>
<B>genu, </B>noun, pl. <B>genua.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anatomy.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a knee. <DD><B> 2. </B>a kneelike bend or curved part, as in various organs of the body. </DL>
<A NAME="genual">
<B>genual, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the knee; kneelike. </DL>
<A NAME="genuflect">
<B>genuflect, </B>intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to bend the knee as an act of reverence or worship. noun <B>genuflector.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="genuflection">
<B>genuflection, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act of bending the knee in reverence or worship. </DL>
