Chapter 23

Gam (?), n. [Orig. uncert.] (Naut.) (a) A herd, or school, of whales. (b) A visit between whalers at sea; a holding of social intercourse between those on different vessels at sea, or (Local U. S.) between persons ashore.

Gam, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gammed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Gam"ming.] (Naut.) (a) To gather in a gam; -- said of whales. (b) To engage in a gam, or (Local, U. S.) in social intercourse anywhere.

Gam, v. t. (Naut.) To have a gam with; to pay a visit to, esp. among whalers at sea.

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Gam*beer" (?), v. t. [Cf. F. gambier a kind of hook.] (Fishing) To gaff, as mackerel.

Gam"ble (?), n. An act of gambling; a transaction or proceeding involving gambling; hence, anything involving similar risk or uncertainty. [Colloq.]

Gam"ete (gm"t; g*mt"; the latter usually in compounds), n. [Gr. gameth` wife, or game`ths husband, fr. gamei^n to marry.] (Biol.) A sexual cell or germ cell; a conjugating cell which unites with another of like or unlike character to form a new individual. In Bot., gamete designates esp. the similar sex cells of the lower thallophytes which unite by conjugation, forming a zygospore. The gametes of higher plants are of two sorts, sperm (male) and egg (female); their union is called fertilization, and the resulting zygote an oöspore. In Zoöl., gamete is most commonly used of the sexual cells of certain Protozoa, though also extended to the germ cells of higher forms.

Ga*me"to*phyte (?), n. [Gamete + Gr. fyto`n plant.] (Bot.) In the alternation of generations in plants, that generation or phase which bears sex organs. In the lower plants, as the algæ, the gametophyte is the conspicuous part of the plant body; in mosses it is the so-called moss plant; in ferns it is reduced to a small, early perishing body; and in seed plants it is usually microscopic or rudimentary.

Gam"ma rays. (Physics) Very penetrating rays not appreciably deflected by a magnetic or electric field, emitted by radioactive substances. The prevailing view is that they are non- periodic ether pulses differing from Röntgen rays only in being more penetrating.

Gamp (?), n. A large umbrella; -- said to allude to Mrs. Gamp's umbrella, in Dickens's "Martin Chuzzlewit."

Ga*nan"cial (?), a. [Sp., pertaining to gain, held in common, fr. ganancia gain.] (Law) Designating, pertaining to, or held under, the Spanish system of law (called ganancial system) which controls the title and disposition of the property acquired during marriage by the husband or wife.

Gange (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ganged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Ganging (?).] [Of uncertain origin.] 1. To protect (the part of a line next a fishhook, or the hook itself) by winding it with wire.

2. To attach (a fishhook) to a line or snell, as by knotting the line around the shank of the hook.

Ganz system (?) A haulage system for canal boats, in which an electric locomotive running on a monorail has its adhesion materially increased by the pull of the tow rope on a series of inclined gripping wheels.

Gap, n. (Aëronautics) The vertical distance between two superposed surfaces, esp. in a biplane.

Gape"seed` (?), n. A person who looks or stares gapingly. -- To buy, or sow, gapeseed, to stare idly or in idle wonderment, instead of attending to business.

Ga`rage" (?), n. [F.] 1. A place for housing automobiles.

2. (Aëronautics) A shed for housing an airship or flying machine; a hangar.

3. A side way or space in a canal to enable vessels to pass each other; a siding.

Garage is recent in English, and has as yet acquired no settled pronunciation.

Ga`rage" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Garaged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Garaging (?).] To keep in a garage. [Colloq.]

||Gar`çon" (?), n. [F.] A boy; fellow; esp., a serving boy or man; a waiter; -- in Eng. chiefly applied to French waiters.

||Garde` ci`vique" (?). [F.] See Army organization, above.

Garter stitch. The simplest stitch in knitting.

Gas (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gassed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Gassing.] 1. (Textiles) To singe, as in a gas flame, so as to remove loose fibers; as, to gas thread.

2. To impregnate with gas; as, to gas lime with chlorine in the manufacture of bleaching powder.

Gas, n. Gasoline. [Colloq.]

Gas`e*lier" (?), n. [Formed from gas, in imitation of chandelier.] A chandelier arranged to burn gas.

Gas engine. (Mach.) A kind of internal- combustion engine (which see) using fixed gas; also, broadly, any internal-combustion engine.

{ Gas"o*line, or Gas"o*lene, en"gine }. (Mach.) A kind of internal-combustion engine; -- in British countries called usually petrol engine.

||Gatch (?), n. [Per. gach mortar.] Plaster as used in Persian architecture and decorative art.

Gatch decoration, decoration in plaster often producing design of great beauty. -- Gatch work, work in which gatch is employed; also, articles of gatch ornamentation collectively.

||Gau"cho (?), n. A member of an Indian population, somewhat affected by Spanish blood, in the archipelagoes off the Chilean coast.

Gauss (gous), n. [So named after Karl F. Gauss, a German mathematician.] (Elec.) The C.G.S. unit of density of magnetic field, equal to a field of one line of force per square centimeter, being thus adopted as an international unit at Paris in 1900; sometimes used as a unit of intensity of magnetic field. It was previously suggested as a unit of magnetomotive force.

||Gauss"age (?), n. (Elec.) The intensity of a magnetic field expressed in C.G.S. units, or gausses.

||Ga`vage" (g`vzh"), n. [F., fr. gaver to gorge.] Forced feeding (as of poultry or infants) by means of a tube passed through the mouth down to the stomach.

Gay"ley proc"ess. (Med.) The process of removing moisture from the blast of an iron blast furnace by reducing its temperature so far that it will not remain suspended as vapor in the blast current, but will be deposited as snow in the cooling apparatus. The resultant uniformly dehydrated blast effects great economy in fuel consumption, and promotes regularity of furnace operation, and certainty of furnace control.

Gee"zer (?), n. [Dial. corrupt. of Guiser a mummer.] A queer old fellow; an old chap; an old woman. [Contemptuous, Slang or Dial.]

Gei"sha (g"sh), n.; pl. Geisha (-sh), Geishas (- shz). [Jap.] A Japanese singing and dancing girl.

Gen"er*a`tor, n. (Elec.) Any machine that transforms mechanical into electrical energy; a dynamo.

Gen"ip (?), n., or Genip tree. 1. Any tree or shrub of the genus Genipa.

2. The West Indian sapindaceous tree Melicocca bijuga, which yields the honeyberry; also, the related trees Exothea paniculata and E. trifoliata.

Gen"o*a cake (?). (Cookery) A rich glazed cake, with almonds, pistachios, filberts, or other nuts; also, a rich currant cake with almonds on the top.

||Gen"re (?), n. Kind; genus; class; form; style, esp. in literature.

French drama was lisping or still inarticulate; the great French genre of the fabliau was hardly born.

Saintsbury.

A particular demand . . . that we shall pay special attention to the matter of genres -- that is, to the different forms or categories of literature.

W. P. Trent.

Gen"tle*men's a*gree"ment (?). An agreement binding only as a matter of honor; often, specif., such an agreement among the heads of industrial or merchantile enterprises, the terms of which could not be included and enforced in a legal contract.

Gen*too" (jn*t"), n.; pl. Gentoos (-tz"). A penguin (Pygosceles tæniata). [Falkland Is.]

{ Ge`o*cen"tric (?), Ge`o*cen"tric*al (?) }, a. } Having, considering, or based on, the earth as center; as, the geocentric theory of the universe.

Ge`o*chem"is*try (j`*km"s*tr), n. [Gr. ge`a, gh^, the earth + chemistry.] The study of the chemical composition of, and of actual or possible chemical changes in, the crust of the earth. -- Ge`o*chem"ic*al (#), a. -- Ge`o*chem"ist (#), n.

Geor"gi*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to Georgia, one of the United States.

Georgian architecture. British or British colonial architecture of the period of the four Georges, especially that of the period before 1800.

Germ, n. (Biol.) The germ cells, collectively, as distinguished from the somatic cells, or soma. Germ is often used in place of germinal to form phrases; as, germ area, germ disc, germ membrane, germ nucleus, germ sac, etc.

Germ cell. (Biol.) A cell, of either sex, directly concerned in the production of a new organism.

Ger"mi*nal, a. (Biol.) Of or pertaining to the germ, or germ cells, as distinguished from the somatic cells.

Germ theory. 1. (Biol.) The theory that living organisms can be produced only by the development of living germs. Cf. Biogenesis, Abiogenesis.

2. (Med.) The theory which attributes contagious and infectious diseases, suppurative lesions, etc., to the agency of germs. The science of bacteriology was developed after this theory had been established.

||Ges"so (?), n. [It., chalk, plaster.] 1. Plaster of Paris, or gypsum, esp. as prepared for use in painting, or in making bas-reliefs and the like; by extension, a plasterlike or pasty material spread upon a surface to fit it for painting or gilding, or a surface so prepared.

2. A work of art done in gesso. [Obs.]

||Ges"so du"ro (?). [It., hard plaster.] A variety of gesso which when dried becomes hard and durable, often used in making bas-relief casts, which are colored and mounted in elaborate frames.

Geusd"ism (gd"z'm), n. The Marxian socialism and programme of reform through revolution as advocated by the French political leader Jules Basile Guesde (pron. gd) (1845- ). -- Guesd"ist (#), n. & a.

{ ||Ghaz"al (?), ||Ghaz"el (?) }, n. [Ar. ghazal.] A kind of Oriental lyric, and usually erotic, poetry, written in recurring rhymes.

||Gha"zi (?), n. [Ar. ghz.] Among Mohammedans, a warrior champion or veteran, esp. in the destruction of infidels.

Ghet"to (?), n. A quarter of a city where Jews live in greatest numbers.

Ghost dance. A religious dance of the North American Indians, participated in by both sexes, and looked upon as a rite of invocation the purpose of which is, through trance and vision, to bring the dancer into communion with the unseen world and the spirits of departed friends. The dance is the chief rite of the Ghost- dance, or Messiah, religion, which originated about 1890 in the doctrines of the Piute Wovoka, the Indian Messiah, who taught that the time was drawing near when the whole Indian race, the dead with the living, should be reunited to live a life of millennial happiness upon a regenerated earth. The religion inculcates peace, righteousness, and work, and holds that in good time, without warlike intervention, the oppressive white rule will be removed by the higher powers. The religion spread through a majority of the western tribes of the United States, only in the case of the Sioux, owing to local causes, leading to an outbreak.

Gi"ba*ro (?), n.; pl. Gibaros (#). [Amer. Sp. jíbaro wild.] (Ethnol.) The offspring of a Spaniard and an Indian; a Spanish-Indian mestizo. [Sp. Amer.]

Gi*bral"tar (?), n. 1. A strongly fortified town on the south coast of Spain, held by the British since 1704; hence, an impregnable stronghold.

2. A kind of candy sweetmeat, or a piece of it; -- called, in full, Gibraltar rock.

||Gigue (zhg), n. [F.] A piece of lively dance music, in two strains which are repeated; also, the dance.

{ ||Gi*ta"na (?), n. fem.; ||Gi*ta"no (?), n. masc. } [Sp., fr. (assumed) LL. Aegyptanus, fem. Aegyptana, Egyptian. Cf. Gypsy.] A Spanish gypsy.

Give (?), v. t. To afford a view of; as, his window gave the park.

||Gla`cé" (?), a. [F., p.p. of glacer to freeze, to ice. Cf. Glacier.] Coated with icing; iced; glazed; -- said of fruits, sweetmeats, cake, etc.

Gle"ba (?), n.; pl. Glebæ (#). [L., a clod.] (Bot.) The chambered sporogenous tissue forming the central mass of the sporophore in puff balls, stinkhorns, etc.

Glee club. A club or company organized for singing glees, and (by extension) part songs, ballads, etc.

{ Glen*gar"ry (?), n., or Glen*gar"ry bon"net (?) }. [Name of a valley in Scotland.] A kind of Highland Scotch cap for men, with straight sides and a hollow top sloping to the back, where it is parted and held together by ribbons or strings.

The long silk streamers of his Glengarry bonnet.

L. Hutton.

Glide, n. (Aëronautics) Movement of a glider, aëroplane, etc., through the air under gravity or its own movement.

Glide, v. i. (Aëronautics) To move through the air by virtue of gravity or momentum; to volplane.

Gliding angle. (Aëronautics) The angle, esp. the least angle, at which a gliding machine or aëroplane will glide to earth by virtue of gravity without applied power.

Gliding machine. (Aëronautics) A construction consisting essentially of one or more aëroplanes for gliding in an inclined path from a height to the ground.

Glis*sade" (?), n. [F., fr. glisser to slip.] 1. A sliding, as down a snow slope.

2. A dance step consisting of a glide or slide to one side.

Glock"en*spiel` (?), n. [G.; glocke bell + spiel play.] (Music) An instrument, originally a series of bells on an iron rod, now a set of flat metal bars, diatonically tuned, giving a bell-like tone when played with a mallet; a carillon.

Glost (?), n. [See 1st Gloss.] (Ceramics) The lead glaze used for pottery.

Gly"cose (?), n. [Gr. &?; sweet + - ose.] (Physiol. Chem.) One of a class of carbohydrates having from three to nine atoms of carbon in the molecules and having the constitution either of an aldehyde alcohol or of a ketone alcohol. Most glycoses have hydrogen and oxygen present in the proportion to form water, while the number of carbon atoms is usually equal to the number of atoms of oxygen.

Gly`co*som"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. &?; sweet + -meter.] (Med.) An apparatus for determining the amount of sugar in diabetic urine.

Glyph (?), n. (Archæol.) A carved figure or character, incised or in relief; a carved pictograph; hence, a pictograph representing a form originally adopted for sculpture, whether carved or painted.

Go (?), n. Something that goes or is successful; a success; as, he made a go of it; also, an agreement.

"Well," said Fleming, "is it a go?"

Bret Harte.

Go*bang" (?), n. [Written also goban.] [Jap. goban checkerboard, fr. Chino-Jap. go checker + ban board.] A Japanese game, played on a checkerboard, in which the object of the game is to be the first in placing five pieces, or men, in a row in any direction.

Gob"stick` (?), n. [Gob mouth + stick.] 1. (Angling) A stick or device for removing the hook from a fish's gullet.

He . . . wrenched out the hook with the short wooden stick he called a "gobstick."

Kipling.

2. A spoon. [Prov. Eng. or Slang]

Go"-dev"il (?), n. (Mach.) (a) A weight which is dropped into a bore, as of an oil well, to explode a cartridge previously lowered. (b) A device, as a loosely fitted plug, which is driven through a pipe by the pressure of the contents behind the plug to clear away obstructions. (c) A rough sled or dray used for dragging logs, hauling stone, etc. [Local, U. S.]

Go"ing, p. pr. of Go. Specif.: (a) That goes; in existence; available for present use or enjoyment; current; obtainable; also, moving; working; in operation; departing; as, he is of the brightest men going; going prices or rate. (b) Carrying on its ordinary business; conducting business, or carried on, with an indefinite prospect of continuance; -- chiefly used in the phrases a going business, concern, etc. (c) Of or pert. to a going business or concern; as, the going value of a company.

Gold"en State. California; -- a nickname alluding to its rich gold deposits.

Golf (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Golfed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Golfing.] To play at golf.

Last mystery of all, he learned to golf.

Kipling.

Gon"do*la, n. (Aëronautics) An elongated car under a dirigible.

Gon"go*rism (?), n. An affected elegance or euphuism of style, for which the Spanish poet Gongora y Argote (1561-1627), among others of his time, was noted.

Gongorism, that curious disease of euphuism, that broke out simultaneously in Italy, England, and Spain.

The Critic.

The Renaissance riots itself away in Marinism, Gongorism, Euphuism, and the affectations of the Hôtel Rambouillet.

J. A. Symonds.

Good"y (?), a. Weakly or sentimentally good; affectedly good; -- often in the reduplicated form goody-goody. [Colloq.]

Goose egg. In games, a zero; a score or record of naught; -- so named in allusion to the egglike outline of the zero sign 0. Called also duck egg. [Slang]

Goose"-rumped` (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having the tail set low and buttocks that fall away sharply from the croup; -- said of certain horses.

Go"pher State. Minnesota; -- a nickname alluding to the abundance of gophers.

Gorge, n. (Angling) A primitive device used instead of a fishhook, consisting of an object easy to be swallowed but difficult to be ejected or loosened, as a piece of bone or stone pointed at each end and attached in the middle to a line.

Circle of the gorge (Math.), a minimum circle on a surface of revolution, cut out by a plane perpendicular to the axis. -- Gorge fishing, trolling with a dead bait on a double hook which the fish is given time to swallow, or gorge.

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||Gor`gon*zo"la (?), n. [It.] A kind of Italian pressed milk cheese; -- so called from a village near Milan.

Graf*fi"to (?), n. [It., fr. graffio a scratching.] (Art) Production of decorative designs by scratching them through a surface of layer plaster, glazing, etc., revealing a different-colored ground; also, pottery or ware so decorated; -- chiefly used attributively.

Graft, n. [Prob. orig. so called because illegitimate or improper profit was looked upon as a graft, or sort of excrescence, on a legitimate business undertaking, in distinction from its natural proper development.] 1. Acquisition of money, position, etc., by dishonest or unjust means, as by actual theft or by taking advantage of a public office or any position of trust or employment to obtain fees, perquisites, profits on contracts, legislation, pay for work not done or service not performed, etc.; illegal or unfair practice for profit or personal advantage; also, anything thus gained. [Colloq.]

2. A "soft thing" or "easy thing;" a "snap." [Slang]

Graft"age (?), n. (Hort.) The science of grafting, including the various methods of practice and details of operation.

Gram"o*phone (?), n. [Gr. &?; a thing drawn or written (fr. &?; write) + -phone, as in telephone.] An instrument for recording, preserving, and reproducing sounds, the record being a tracing of a phonautograph etched in some solid material. Reproduction is accomplished by means of a system attached to an elastic diaphragm.

{Gran"ger railroads, or Granger roads }. (Finance) Certain railroads whose traffic largely consists in carrying the produce of farmers or grangers; -- specifically applied to the Chicago & Alton; Chicago, Burlington & Quincey; Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul; and Chicago & Northwestern, railroads. [U. S.].

Granger stocks or shares. Stocks or shares of the granger railroads.

Gran"ite State. New Hampshire; -- a nickname alluding to its mountains, which are chiefly of granite.

Graph (?), n. [See -graph.] (Math.) 1. A curve or surface, the locus of a point whose coördinates are the variables in the equation of the locus.

2. A diagram symbolizing a system of interrelations by spots, all distinguishable from one another and some connected by lines of the same kind.

Gra*phol"o*gy. (Math.) The system or notation used in dealing with graphs.

Graph"o*phone (?), n. [Gr. &?; to write + -phone, as in telephone.] A kind of photograph.

Graph"o*scope (?), n. [Gr. gra`fein to write + -scope.] An optical device for showing (or photographing) an image when projected upon the atmosphere as a screen.

||Gra`tin" (?), n. [F.] (Cookery) The brown crust formed upon a gratinated dish; also, dish itself, as crusts bread, game, or poultry.

Grat"i*nate (?), v. t. [F. gratiner, v.i., to form a crust.] (Cookery) To cook, as macaroni, in a savory juice or sauce until juice is absorbed and a crisp surface forms.

Grat"ing (?), n. (Optics) A system of close equidistant parallel lines or bars, esp. lines ruled on a polished surface, used for producing spectra by diffraction. Gratings have been made with over 40,000 such lines to the inch, but those with a somewhat smaller number give the best definition.

{ Grease cock or cup }. (Mach.) A cock or cup containing grease, to serve as a lubricator.

Great White Way. Broadway, in New York City, in the neighborhood chiefly occupied by theaters, as from about 30th Street about 50th Street; -- so called from its brilliant illumination at night.

Greek calendar. 1. Any of various calendars used by the ancient Greek states. The Attic calendar divided the year into twelve months of 29 and 30 days, as follows:

1. Hecatombæon (July-Aug.). 2. Metageitnion (Aug.-Sept.). 3. Boëdromion (Sept.-Oct.). 4. Pyanepsion (Oct.-Nov.). 5. Mæmacterion (Nov.-Dec.). 6. Poseideon (Dec.-Jan.). 7. Gamelion (Jan.-Feb.). 8. Anthesterion (Feb.-Mar.). 9. Elaphebolion (Mar.-Apr.). 10. Munychion (Apr.-May). 11. Thargelion (May-June). 12. Scirophorion (June-July).

A fixed relation to the seasons was maintained by introducing an intercalary month, "the second Poseideon," at first in an inexact way, afterward in years 3, 5, 8, 11, 13, 16, 19 of the Metonic cycle. Dates were reckoned in Olympiads.

2. The Julian calendar, used in the Greek Church.

Greek calends or kalends. A time that will never come, as the Greeks had no calends.

Grey"hound`, n. A swift steamer, esp. an ocean steamer.

Grid, n. (Elec.) A plate or sheet of lead with perforations, or other irregularities of surface, by which the active material of a secondary battery or accumulator is supported.

Griff, n. A person of mixed blood.

Griffe, n. A person of mixed negro and American Indian blood.

Grif"fon (grf"fn), n. [F.] One of a European breed of rough-coated dogs, somewhat taller than the setter and of a grizzly liver color. They are used in hunt game birds. The Brussels griffon is a very small, wiry- coated, short-nosed pet dog of Belgian origin.

Grill (?), n. 1. A figure of crossed bars with interstices, such as those sometimes impressed upon postage stamps.

2. A grillroom.

Grill, v. t. To stamp or mark with a grill.

Grill, v. i. To undergo the process of being grilled, or broiled; to broil.

He had grilled in the heat, sweated in the rains.

Kipling.

Grill"room` (?), n. A room specially fitted for broiling food, esp. one in a restaurant, hotel, or club&?;house, arranged for prompt service.

Grin"go (?), n. [Amer. Sp., fr. Sp. gringo gibberish; cf. griego Greek, F. grigou wretch.] Among Spanish Americans, a foreigner, esp. an Englishman or American; -- often used as a term of reproach.

Grip, n. 1. Specif., an apparatus attached to a car for clutching a traction cable.

2. A gripsack; a hand bag; a satchel. [Colloq.]

3. (Med.) The influenza; grippe.

Grip car. A car with a grip to clutch a traction cable.

Griz"zle (?), v. t. & i. To make or become grizzly, or grayish.

Hardship of the way such as would grizzle little children.

R. F. Burton.

I foundgrizzling man whom men addressed as Collins Bey.

Pall Mall Mag.

Griz"zle, v. i. & t. [Etym. uncertain.] To worry; to fret; to bother; grumble. [Prov. Eng.] " Don't sit grizzling there." Charles Reade.

Gro"bi*an (?), n. [G., fr. grob rude. Cf. Gruff, a.] A rude or clownish person; boor; lout.

Gro"lier` (?), n. The name by which Jean Grolier de Servier (1479-1565), a French bibliophile, is commonly known; -- used in naming a certain style of binding, a design, etc.

Grolier binding, a book binding decorated with a pattern imitated from those given covers of books bound for Jean Grolier, and bearing his name and motto. -- Grolier design or school, the pattern of interlacing bars, bands, or ribbons, with little scrolls of slender gold lines, assumed to be an imitation of the designs on Jean Grolier's book bindings.