What does "gird" mean?
Gird: A cut; a sarcastic remark; a gibe; a sneer. I thank thee for that gird, good Tranio. Shak.
Additional senses
- 2.To strike; to smite. [Obs.] To slay him and to girden off his head. Chaucer.
- 3.To sneer at; to mock; to gibe. Being moved, he will not spare to gird the gods. Shak.
- 4.To gibe; to sneer; to break a scornful jest; to utter severe sarcasms. Men of all sorts take a pride to gird at me. Shak.
- 5.To encircle or bind with any flexible band.
- 6.To make fast, as clothing, by binding with a cord, girdle, bandage, etc.
- 7.To surround; to encircle, or encompass. That Nyseian isle, Girt with the River Triton. Milton.
- 8.To clothe; to swathe; to invest. I girded thee about with fine linen. Ezek. xvi.
- 9.The Son . . . appeared Girt with omnipotence. Milton.
- 10.To prepare; to make ready; to equip; as, to gird one's self for a contest. Thou hast girded me with strength. Ps. xviii.
- 11.To gird on, to put on; to fasten around or to one securely, like a girdle; as, to gird on armor or a sword. Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off. 1 Kings xx.
- 12.-- To gird up, to bind tightly with a girdle; to support and strengthen, as with a girdle. He girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab. 1 Kings xviii.
- 13.Gird up the loins of your mind. 1 Pet. i.
- 14.-- Girt up; prepared or equipped, as for a journey or for work, in allusion to the ancient custom of gathering the long flowing garments into the girdle and tightening it before any exertion; hence, adjectively, eagerly or constantly active; strenuous; striving. "A severer, more girt-up way of living." J. C. Shairp.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00