gin

¹ American  

[jin] / dʒɪn /

noun

1. an alcoholic liquor obtained by distilling grain mash with juniper berries.

2. an alcoholic liquor similar to this, made by redistilling spirits with flavoring agents, especially juniper berries, orange peel, angelica root, etc.

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gin ² American  

[jin] / dʒɪn /

noun

1. cotton gin.

   Did Whitney's invention of the gin actually enable an expansion in the slave trade?

2. a trap or snare for game.

   They learned how to devise a simple gin for catching rabbits and quail and such.

3. any of various machines employing simple tackle or windlass mechanisms for hoisting.

   She finished developing her father's design of a gin that would facilitate safer movement of large parts in the manufacturing plant.

4. a stationary prime mover having a drive shaft rotated by horizontal beams pulled by horses walking in a circle.

   The gins were activated by teams of horses to power the pulley system that hauled the coal out of the mines.

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verb (used with object)

ginned, ginning

1. to clear (cotton) of seeds with a gin.

   The weather's fine today for ginning cotton.

2. to snare (game).

   Hey! Looks like you ginned a woodcock.

gin ³ American  

[gin] / gɪn /

verb (used with or without object)

gan, gun, ginning

1. Archaic.  to begin.

   At twilight, gin we our leave.

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gin ⁴ American  

[jin] / dʒɪn /

noun

1. Also called gin rummy.  a variety of rummy for two players, in which a player with 10 or fewer points in unmatched cards can end the game by laying down the hand.

   They get together ever Tuesday for a friendly game of gin.

2. the winning of such a game by laying down a full set of matched cards, earning the winner a bonus of 20 or 25 points.

   Sorry, but that's gin for me again.

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verb (used without object)

ginned, ginning

1. to win a game in gin by laying down a hand in which all 10 cards are included in sets.

   How many times has she ginned tonight?

gin ⁵ American  

[gin] / gɪn /

conjunction

Chiefly Scot. and Southern Appalachian.

1. if; whether.

   It's a beast of a river to cross, gin ye dare.

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gin ⁶ American  

[jin] / dʒɪn /

Or jin

noun

Australian Informal: Offensive.

1. an Aboriginal woman.

2. an Aboriginal wife.

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gin ¹ British  

/ dʒɪn /

noun

1. a primitive engine in which a vertical shaft is turned by horses driving a horizontal beam or yoke in a circle

2. Also called: cotton gin.  a machine of this type used for separating seeds from raw cotton

3. a trap for catching small mammals, consisting of a noose of thin strong wire

4. a hand-operated hoist that consists of a drum winder turned by a crank

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verb

1. to free (cotton) of seeds with a gin

2. to trap or snare (game) with a gin

gin ² British  

/ dʒɪn /

noun

1. an alcoholic drink obtained by distillation and rectification of the grain of malted barley, rye, or maize, flavoured with juniper berries

2. any of various grain spirits flavoured with other fruit or aromatic essences

   sloe gin

3. an alcoholic drink made from any rectified spirit

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gin ³ British  

/ ɡɪn /

verb

1. an archaic word for begin

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gin ⁴ British  

/ ɡɪn /

conjunction

1. if

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gin ⁵ British  

/ dʒɪn /

noun

1. offensive  an Aboriginal woman

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Other Word Forms

• ginner noun

Etymology

Origin of gin¹

First recorded in 1705–15; shortened from geneva, alteration of Dutch genever “gin,” literally “juniper” (because the liquor was flavored with juniper berries), from Old French genevre “juniper plant,” from assumed Vulgar Latin jeniperus, from Latin juniperus

Origin of gin²

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English gyn, shortened variant of Old French engin “innate quality, clever invention”; engine

Origin of gin³

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English ginnen, Old English ginnan, shortened variant of onginnan, beginnen “to begin”; begin

Origin of gin⁴

First recorded in 1955–60; perhaps special use of gin ¹, a shortening of the variant gin rummy, recorded in 1940–45

Origin of gin⁵

First recorded in 1665–75; variously explained as sense development of gien “given” ( gie, -en ³ ); as contraction of gif ( if, an ²; iffen ); or as a shortening of again

Origin of gin⁶

First recorded in 1790–1800; from Dharuk di-yin, diyin “woman, old woman”

Example Sentences

Eli Whitney’s cotton gin expanded slavery across the Deep South.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The purists, they get cranky about this, you know, and say that it’s supposed to be gin and vermouth and that’s all a martini should be.”

From Salon

With the 1793 invention of the cotton gin—which separated cotton fibers from its seeds with a previously undreamed-of efficiency—America’s plantation economy expanded exponentially and so did its use of slave labor.

From The Wall Street Journal

He is best known for his invention of the cotton gin, a machine that transformed cotton production, with tragic consequences for workers.

From The Wall Street Journal

The gin producer said the spirits industry was being "used as a bit of a cash cow for the government".

From BBC

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