gall

¹

[gawl]

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.

gall

²

[gawl]

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.

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

[gawl]

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.

Gall

⁴

[gawl]

noun

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

gall

¹

/ 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

gall

²

/ 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

verb

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

2. (tr) to irritate or annoy; vex

gall

³

/ ɡɔːl /

noun

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

gall.

⁴

abbreviation

1. gallon

gall

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.

Other Word Forms

• ungalled adjective

Word History and Origins

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of gall¹

from Old Norse, replacing Old English gealla; related to Old High German galla, Greek kholē

Origin of gall²

C14: of Germanic origin; related to Old English gealla sore on a horse, and perhaps to _gall ¹

Origin of gall³

C14: from Old French galle, from Latin galla

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

Example Sentences

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

Read more on MarketWatch

Garfield is all galling charisma and Edebiri is in some pallid register, like a Victorian ghost that you’re not sure whether to fear.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

L.A.’s nonchalant highhandedness can gall today as it did 101 years ago when it precipitated what secessionists hailed as the “day of deliverance” from the “imperial county.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

As well as the shortened format and convenient scheduling, there is also a lucrative prize pot - something that has been particularly galling for the doubles specialists who are missing out.

Read more on BBC

While Zora and Henry get the chance to debate the merits of their work along the way, Koepp’s screenplay gallingly diverts attention to a far less charming parallel storyline just when things are getting good.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

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