gantry

[gan-tree]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gantry ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural gan·tries.

a framework spanning a railroad track or tracks for displaying signals.

any of various spanning frameworks, as a bridgelike portion of certain cranes.

Rocketry. a frame consisting of scaffolds on various levels used to erect vertically launched rockets and spacecraft.

a framelike stand for supporting a barrel or cask.

Also gauntry.

Origin of gantry

1325–75; Middle English gauntre < dialectal Old French gantier wooden stand, frame, variant of chantier < Medieval Latin cantārius < Latin canthērius < Greek kanthḗlios packass

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

Related Words for gantry

table, support, booth, platform, station, counter, rank, dais, stall, place, board, frame, grandstand, rack, bracket, gantry, staging

Examples from the Web for gantry

Historical Examples of gantry

Gantry was astonished and he admitted it in exclamatory phrase.
The Honorable Senator Sage-Brush
Francis Lynde
"You hoped it was only a young woman's fad—which it probably is," Gantry cut in.
The Honorable Senator Sage-Brush
Francis Lynde
Gantry seems to think that the railroads—or his railroad, at least—are persecuted.
The Honorable Senator Sage-Brush
Francis Lynde
This time Gantry's smile was a grin of complete intelligence.
The Honorable Senator Sage-Brush
Francis Lynde
"You say it's enough for you; it won't be enough for Mr. McVickar," Gantry interposed.
The Honorable Senator Sage-Brush
Francis Lynde

British Dictionary definitions for gantry

gantry

gauntry

noun plural -tries

a bridgelike framework used to support a travelling crane, signals over a railway track, etc

Also called: gantry scaffold the framework tower used to attend to a large rocket on its launching pad

a supporting framework for a barrel or cask

the area behind a bar where bottles, esp spirit bottles mounted in optics, are kept for use or display
the range or quality of the spirits on viewthis pub's got a good gantry

Word Origin for gantry

C16 (in the sense: wooden platform for barrels): from Old French chantier, from Medieval Latin cantārius, changed from Latin canthērius supporting frame, pack ass; related to Greek kanthēlios pack ass

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 gantry

1570s, originally "four-footed stand for a barrel," probably from Old North French gantier (Old French chantier, 13c., "store-room, stock-room"), from Latin cantherius "rafter, frame," also "a gelding," from Greek kanthelios "pack ass," related to kanthelion "rafter," of unknown origin. The connecting notion in all this seems to be framework for carrying things. Meaning "frame for a crane, etc." is from 1810. Railway signal sense attested by 1889.