From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
gall
n 1: an open sore on the back of a horse caused by ill-fitting or
badly adjusted saddle [syn: saddle sore]
2: a skin sore caused by chafing
3: abnormal swelling of plant tissue caused by insects or
microorganisms or injury
4: a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will [syn:
resentment, bitterness, rancor, rancour]
5: a digestive juice secreted by the liver and stored in the
gallbladder; aids in the digestion of fats [syn: bile]
6: the trait of being rude and impertinent; inclined to take
liberties [syn: crust, impertinence, impudence,
insolence, cheekiness, freshness]
v 1: become or make sore by or as if by rubbing [syn: chafe,
fret]
2: irritate or vex; "It galls me that we lost the suit" [syn:
irk]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gall \Gall\ (g[add]l), n. [F. galle, noix de galle, fr. L.
galla.] (Zool.)
An excrescence of any form produced on any part of a plant by
insects or their larvae. They are most commonly caused by
small Hymenoptera and Diptera which puncture the bark and lay
their eggs in the wounds. The larvae live within the galls.
Some galls are due to aphids, mites, etc. See Gallnut.
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Note: The galls, or gallnuts, of commerce are produced by
insects of the genus Cynips, chiefly on an oak
(Quercus infectoria syn. Quercus Lusitanica) of
Western Asia and Southern Europe. They contain much
tannin, and are used in the manufacture of that article
and for making ink and a black dye, as well as in
medicine.
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Gall insect (Zool.), any insect that produces galls.
Gall midge (Zool.), any small dipterous insect that
produces galls.
Gall oak, the oak (Quercus infectoria) which yields the
galls of commerce.
Gall of glass, the neutral salt skimmed off from the
surface of melted crown glass;- called also glass gall
and sandiver. --Ure.
Gall wasp. (Zool.) See Gallfly.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gall \Gall\ (g[add]l), n.[OE. galle, gal, AS. gealla; akin to D.
gal, OS. & OHG. galla, Icel. gall, SW. galla, Dan. galde, L.
fel, Gr. ?, and prob. to E. yellow. [root]49. See Yellow,
and cf. Choler]
1. (Physiol.) The bitter, alkaline, viscid fluid found in the
gall bladder, beneath the liver. It consists of the
secretion of the liver, or bile, mixed with that of the
mucous membrane of the gall bladder.
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2. The gall bladder.
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3. Anything extremely bitter; bitterness; rancor.
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He hath . . . compassed me with gall and travail.
--Lam. iii. 5.
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Comedy diverted without gall. --Dryden.
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4. Impudence; brazen assurance. [Slang]
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Gall bladder (Anat.), the membranous sac, in which the
bile, or gall, is stored up, as secreted by the liver; the
cholecystis. See Illust. of Digestive apparatus.
Gall duct, a duct which conveys bile, as the cystic duct,
or the hepatic duct.
Gall sickness, a remitting bilious fever in the
Netherlands. --Dunglison.
Gall of the earth (Bot.), an herbaceous composite plant
with variously lobed and cleft leaves, usually the
Prenanthes serpentaria.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gall \Gall\, v. t. (Dyeing)
To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts. --Ure.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gall \Gall\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Galled (g[add]ld); p. pr. &
vb. n. Galling.] [OE. gallen; cf. F. galer to scratch, rub,
gale scurf, scab, G. galle a disease in horses' feet, an
excrescence under the tongue of horses; of uncertain origin.
Cf. Gall gallnut.]
1. To fret and wear away by friction; to hurt or break the
skin of by rubbing; to chafe; to injure the surface of by
attrition; as, a saddle galls the back of a horse; to gall
a mast or a cable.
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I am loth to gall a new-healed wound. --Shak.
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2. To fret; to vex; as, to be galled by sarcasm.
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They that are most galled with my folly,
They most must laugh. --Shak.
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3. To injure; to harass; to annoy; as, the troops were galled
by the shot of the enemy.
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In our wars against the French of old, we used to
gall them with our longbows, at a greater distance
than they could shoot their arrows. --Addison.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gall \Gall\, v. i.
To scoff; to jeer. [R.] --Shak.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gall \Gall\, n.
A wound in the skin made by rubbing.
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