gaiter

[ gey-ter ]

/ ˈgeɪ tər /

noun

a covering of cloth or leather for the ankle and instep and sometimes also the lower leg, worn over the shoe or boot.Compare upper¹(def 7).

a cloth or leather shoe with elastic insertions at the sides.

an overshoe with a fabric top.

Nearby words

Origin of gaiter

1765–75; < French guêtre, Middle French guiestre, guestre, perhaps < Frankish *wrist, cognate with German Rist ankle, wrist. See wrist

Related formsgai·ter·less, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gaiter

The gaiter secured, we prepared to lift the sufferer from his seat, and he on his part made a feeble effort to rise.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 68, No. 417, July, 1850|Various
A gaiter shoe or combination shoe and stocking was made of waterproof cloth, laced up the sides, and reached to about the knees.
Women's Bathing and Swimming Costume in the United States|Claudia B. Kidwell
Five decades hardly modified the cut of a gaiter, the embroidery of a smock-frock, by the breadth of a hair.
Far from the Madding Crowd|Thomas Hardy
Her gaiter boots were saturated with wet, and soiled with reddish clay.
Mabel's Mistake|Ann S. Stephens

She consented that I should rest a while at the cobbler's, and then return home carrying the gaiter.
Explorers of the Dawn|Mazo de la Roche

British Dictionary definitions for gaiter

gaiter

/ (ˈɡeɪtə) /

noun (often plural)

a cloth or leather covering for the leg or ankle buttoned on one side and usually strapped under the foot

Also called: spat a similar covering extending from the ankle to the instep

a waterproof covering for the ankle worn by climbers and walkers to prevent snow, mud, or gravel entering over the top of the boot

Derived Formsgaiterless, adjective

Word Origin for gaiter

C18: from French guêtre, probably of Germanic origin and related to wrist

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gaiter

gaiter

"leather cover for the ankle," 1775, perhaps from French guêtre "belonging to peasant attire," from Middle French *guestre, probably from Frankish *wrist "instep," from Proto-Germanic *wirstiz (cf. German Rist "instep;" see wrist). Related: Gaiters.