gill
Pronunciation: /ɡɪl/
The English word “gill” has 20 meanings listed here.
noun
- A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.
- A gill slit or gill cover.
- One of the radial folds on the underside of the cap of a mushroom, the surface of which bears the spore-producing organs.
- The fleshy flap that hangs below the beak of a fowl; a wattle.
- The flesh under or about the chin; a wattle.
- One of the combs of closely ranged steel pins which divide the ribbons of flax fiber or wool into fewer parallel filaments.
- A drink measure for spirits and wine, a quarter of an imperial pint or near to that amount, but varying regionally.
- A unit of measure equal to 4 US fluid ounces (half a cup, a quarter of a US pint), approximately 118 milliliters.
- A measuring jug holding a quarter or half a pint.
- A rivulet, small stream.
- A ravine.
- A two-wheeled frame for transporting timber.
- A promiscuous woman; harlot, wanton.
- A prostitute.
- gill-over-the-ground: ground ivy.
- gill-ale: an ale made with ground ivy among its ingredients.
verb
Etymology
From Middle English gille, gylle (“gill”), of North Germanic origin, akin to Danish gælle, Swedish gäl, Norwegian gjelle, and further to Old Norse gjǫlnar (“lips”), which also may have had the meaning of "gills" (based on Old Danish fiskegæln (“gills”)). The Old Norse word has been suggested as deriving from Proto-Germanic *gelunō (“jaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel-, which would make it…
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.