<B>gibbous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>curved out; humped. <DD><B> 2. </B>so illuminated as to be convex on both margins. A gibbous moon is more than half full but less than full. <DD><B> 3. </B>humpbacked. adv. <B>gibbously.</B> noun <B>gibbousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gibbsite">
<B>gibbsite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a whitish, crystalline or massive hydrate of aluminum oxide. It is an important component of bauxite, the principal ore of aluminum. </DL>
<A NAME="gibe">
<B>gibe, </B>verb, <B>gibed,</B> <B>gibing,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> to speak in a sneering way; jeer; scoff; sneer. <BR> <I>Ex. My brother gibed at my efforts to paint a picture. He would familiarly gibe and jest with him (Edmund Spenser).</I> (SYN) ridicule, deride. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to taunt; mock. <DD><B> 2. </B>to dismiss with taunts or jeers. <BR> <I>Ex. You ... with taunts Did gibe my missive out of audience (Shakespeare).</I> (SYN) ridicule, deride. <DD><I>noun </I> a jeer; taunt; sneer. <BR> <I>Ex. His gibes hurt his sister's feelings.</I> <DD> Also, <B>jibe.</B> noun <B>giber.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gibeonite">
<B>Gibeonite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one of the inhabitants of Gibeon, an ancient city of Palestine, who tried to deceive Joshua and were punished by being made servants to the Israelites (in the Bible, Joshua 9). </DL>
<B>giblet, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> Usually, <B>giblets.</B> the heart, liver, and gizzard of a fowl. <BR> <I>Ex. The giblets were cut up and put in a giblet gravy.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gibraltar">
<B>Gibraltar, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a strongly fortified place; impregnable fortress or stronghold. <BR> <I>Ex. Canada's 11 chartered banks are Gibraltars of financial solidity.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gibson">
<B>Gibson, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a cocktail consisting of gin or vodka with dry vermouth, served with a pickled onion. </DL>
<A NAME="gibsongirl">
<B>Gibson girl,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a typical, clean-cut, poised American woman of the outdoor type, as drawn by the illustrator, Charles Dana Gibson, 1867-1944. <BR> <I>Ex. Until replaced by the post-first-world-war flapper, the Gibson girl ... graced the calendars, the advertisements, the postcards, the embroidery--even the spoons--of a generation (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a portable emergency radio transmitter, so called because of its curved shape, carried aboard airplanes and lifeboats. </DL>
<A NAME="gibus">
<B>gibus, </B>noun, or <B>gibus hat,</B> <B>=opera hat.</B></DL>
<A NAME="gid">
<B>gid, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> staggers in sheep due to infestation of the brain with a larval form of tapeworm; waterbrain. </DL>
<B>giddy, </B>adjective, <B>-dier,</B> <B>-diest,</B> verb, <B>-died,</B> <B>-dying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>having a confused, whirling feeling in one's head; dizzy. <BR> <I>Ex. It makes me giddy to go on a merry-go-round.</I> (SYN) light-headed. <DD><B> 2. </B>likely to make dizzy; causing dizziness. <BR> <I>Ex. giddy precipices. The couples whirled and whirled in their giddy dance.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>rarely or never serious; living for the pleasure of the moment; in a whirl; frivolous; fickle. <BR> <I>Ex. That giddy girl thinks only of having a gay time.</I> (SYN) flighty, heedless, inconstant. <DD><B> 4. </B>nonsensical; absurd. <BR> <I>Ex. The giddy part of it is that our strike isn't up north at all (A. J. Small).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to make giddy. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to become giddy. adv. <B>giddily.</B> noun <B>giddiness.</B> </DL>
<B>giddyup, </B>interjection.<DL COMPACT><DD> a word of command to horses to start going or to go faster. </DL>
<A NAME="gideon">
<B>Gideon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a hero of Israel who defeated the Midianites and was a judge of Israel for forty years (in the Bible, Judges 6-8). <DD><B> 2. </B>a member of a Christian organization of American traveling salesmen, founded in 1899 for the purpose of placing Bibles in hotels, hospitals, prisons, and military bases. </DL>
<A NAME="gidgee">
<B>gidgee, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a small, hard, close-grained acacia of eastern Australia, whose wood is much used for fence posts, walking sticks, and picture frames. </DL>
<A NAME="gie">
<B>gie, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish and Dialect.) to give. </DL>
<A NAME="giereagle">
<B>gier-eagle, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an unclean bird, probably a vulture, mentioned in the Authorized Version of the Bible (Leviticus 11:18 and Deuteronomy 14:17). </DL>
<A NAME="gift">
<B>gift, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>something given; present. <BR> <I>Ex. a birthday gift, the gift of a million dollars to a university.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the act of giving. <BR> <I>Ex. The house came to him by gift from an uncle.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the power or right of giving. <BR> <I>Ex. The office is within his gift.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a natural talent; special ability. <BR> <I>Ex. A great artist must have a gift for painting.</I> (SYN) aptitude. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Obsolete.) a bribe. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to present with a gift; endow. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Especially Scottish.) to give as a gift. </DL>
<A NAME="giftcertificate">
<B>gift certificate,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a certificate that a stated sum of money has been deposited at a store in payment for merchandise to be selected by the recipient, given as a gift. </DL>
<A NAME="gifted">
<B>gifted, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having natural talent or special ability; unusually able; talented. <BR> <I>Ex. Beethoven was gifted in music.</I> adv. <B>giftedly.</B> noun <B>giftedness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="giftedchild">
<B>gifted child,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a child whose intelligence is generally in the top two to three per cent of his age level. <DD><B> 2. </B>a child with an outstanding talent in a particular field. </DL>
<A NAME="gifthorse">
<B>gift horse,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a gift, the value or significance of which is questionable. <BR><I>expr. <B>look a gift horse in the mouth,</B> </I>to criticize and find fault with a gift. <BR> <I>Ex. He would be a fool ... to look such a gift horse in the mouth (James Payn).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="giftless">
<B>giftless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having no gift to offer. <DD><B> 2. </B>having received no gift. <DD><B> 3. </B>lacking in natural gifts or abilities. </DL>
<A NAME="giftofgab">
<B>gift of gab</B> or <B>gift of the gab,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> fluency of speech; glibness. <BR> <I>Ex. It may be that [the author's] gift of gab has cut sharply into his literary output (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="giftoftongues">
<B>gift of tongues,</B> <B>=glossolalia.</B></DL>
<A NAME="giftshop">
<B>gift shop,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a shop dealing in articles suitable for gifts. </DL>
<A NAME="gifttax">
<B>gift tax,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a tax levied on the value of a gift and assessed to the gift's donor. </DL>
<A NAME="giftwrap">
<B>gift-wrap, </B>verb, <B>-wrapped,</B> <B>-wrapping,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> to wrap (something) in fancy paper or with trimmings suitable for a gift. <DD><I>noun </I> especially fancy wrappings. </DL>
<A NAME="giftwrapping">
<B>gift-wrapping, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> fancy paper and trimmings in which to wrap a gift. </DL>
<A NAME="gig">
<B>gig</B> (1), noun, verb, <B>gigged,</B> <B>gigging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a light, open, two-wheeled carriage drawn by one horse. <DD><B> 2. </B>a long, light ship's boat moved by oars or sails. <BR> <I>Ex. The captain's gig was used to take him to and from the ship.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a machine for raising nap on cloth. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to travel in a gig. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to raise the nap of (cloth). </DL>
<A NAME="gig">
<B>gig</B> (2), noun, verb, <B>gigged,</B> <B>gigging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a device for spearing fish; fish spear. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S.) hooks for dragging in a school of fish to hook them through the body. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to spear (fish) with a gig. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to fish with a gig. </DL>
<A NAME="gig">
<B>gig</B> (3), noun, verb, <B>gigged,</B> <B>gigging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Military Slang.) <DD><I>noun </I> a demerit. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to report for a breach of regulations. </DL>
<A NAME="gig">
<B>gig</B> (4), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a gathering or meeting of jazz or rock musicians. <DD><B> 2. </B>a single engagement or playing time of a jazz or rock group, or solo entertainer. <DD><B> 3. </B>any assignment or task; job. <BR> <I>Ex. a first gig as a reporter.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gig">
<B>gig</B> (5), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Obsolete.) <DD><B> 1. </B>something that whirls; a top. <DD><B> 2. </B>a giddy girl. </DL>
<A NAME="giga">
<B>giga-,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) one billion. <BR> <I>Ex. Gigavolt = one billion volts.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="gigabit">
<B>gigabit, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a unit of information equivalent to one billion bits or binary digits. </DL>
<B>gigahertz, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one billion hertz. </DL>
<A NAME="gigantesque">
<B>gigantesque, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> like a giant; suitable for a giant. </DL>
<A NAME="gigantic">
<B>gigantic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of, having to do with, or like a giant. <BR> <I>Ex. a man of gigantic build. In folklore, Paul Bunyan was a gigantic lumberjack.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>huge; enormous. <BR> <I>Ex. a gigantic building project. An elephant is a gigantic animal.</I> (SYN) immense, colossal. adv. <B>gigantically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="gigantism">
<B>gigantism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Medicine.) a condition of overdeveloped growth of the body or part of the body, usually due to overactivity of the pituitary gland. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Biology.) abnormally great vegetative growth. <DD><B> 3. </B>a gigantic condition or tendency; giantism. <BR> <I>Ex. industrial gigantism.</I> </DL>
