gall

¹ American  

[gawl] / gɔl /

noun

1. impudence; effrontery.

   Synonyms:

   cheek, brass, audacity, nerve

2. bile, especially that of an animal.

3. something bitter or severe.

4. bitterness of spirit; rancor.

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idioms

1. gall and wormwood, bitterness of spirit; deep resentment.

gall ² American  

[gawl] / gɔl /

verb (used with object)

1. to vex or irritate greatly.

   His arrogant manner galls me.

2. to make sore by rubbing; chafe severely.

   The saddle galled the horse's back.

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verb (used without object)

1. to be or become chafed.

2. Machinery. (of either of two engaging metal parts) to lose metal to the other because of heat or molecular attraction resulting from friction.

3. Metallurgy. (of a die or compact in powder metallurgy) to lose surface material through adhesion to the die.

noun

1. something very vexing or irritating.

2. a state of vexation or irritation.

3. a sore on the skin, especially of a horse, due to rubbing; excoriation.

gall ³ American  

[gawl] / gɔl /

noun

1. any abnormal vegetable growth or excrescence on a plant, caused by various agents, as insects, nematodes, fungi, bacteria, viruses, chemicals, and mechanical injuries.

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Gall ⁴ American  

[gawl] / gɔl /

noun

1. Pizi, 1840?–94, leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux: a major chief in the battle of Little Bighorn.

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gall ¹ British  

/ ɡɔːl /

noun

1. a sore on the skin caused by chafing

2. something that causes vexation or annoyance

   a gall to the spirits

3. irritation; exasperation

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verb

1. pathol to abrade (the skin, etc) as by rubbing

2. (tr) to irritate or annoy; vex

gall ² British  

/ ɡɔːl /

noun

1. informal impudence

2. bitterness; rancour

3. something bitter or disagreeable

4. physiol an obsolete term for bile 1

5. an obsolete term for gall bladder

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gall ³ British  

/ ɡɔːl /

noun

1. an abnormal outgrowth in plant tissue caused by certain parasitic insects, fungi, bacteria, or mechanical injury

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gall. ⁴ British  

abbreviation

1. gallon

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gall Scientific  

/ gôl /

1. An abnormal swelling of plant tissue, caused by injury or by parasitic organisms such as insects, mites, nematodes, and bacteria. Parasites stimulate the production of galls by secreting chemical irritants on or in the plant tissue. Galls stimulated by egg-laying parasites typically provide a protective environment in which the eggs can hatch and the pupae develop, and they usually do only minor damage to the host plant. Gall-stimulating fungi and microorganisms, such as the bacterium that causes crown gall, are generally considered to be plant diseases.

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Other Word Forms

• ungalled adjective

Etymology

Origin of gall¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English galle, gal “gallbladder; bitter taste; rancor; poison,” Old English gealla “bile”; cognate with German Galle; akin to Latin fel, Greek cholḗ, chólos “gall, bile”; gall ² ( def. )

Origin of gall²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English gal(l)e, gaul(e) “sore (on the skin); stain, impurity; barren spot (in a field),” Old English gealla “an abrasion or sore (on a horse)”; possibly from Latin galla “nutgall”; possibly the same as gall ¹ ( def. ), the senses developing from “bile” to “poison” to “(poisonous) sore” to “stain”; gall ³ ( def. )

Origin of gall³

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English galle, from Middle French, from Latin galla “gallnut”; gall ²

Example Sentences

He had a procedure which resulted in the removal of part of his pancreas, the duodenum, the gall bladder and part of his liver.

From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025

And then he has the gall to justify his expenses by saying that we do need two cars.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 9, 2025

When Johnson underwent anesthesia for a gall bladder operation, Moyers was given responsibility to decide whether then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey should take over the president’s powers in the event of a crisis.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2025

More than 20 years later, my setting out to find her took some gall.

From Salon • May 11, 2024

But it wouldn't come up, only a bitter spurt of gall filled my mouth and splattered the old folk's possessions.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

Related Words

• annoy
• bedevil
• disturb
• exasperate
• irk
• nag
• peeve
• rile
• torment
• vex