gar

[gahr]

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noun, plural (especially collectively) gar, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) gars.

Also called garfish, garpike. any predaceous freshwater fish of the genus Lepisosteus, of North America, covered with hard, diamond-shaped scales and having long jaws with needlelike teeth.

needlefish(def 1).

Origin of gar

1755–65, Americanism; shortened form of garfish

gar

[gahr]

verb (used with object), garred, gar·ring.

Scot. to compel or force (someone) to do something.

Scot. and North England Obsolete. to do, perform, or cause.

Origin of gar

1250–1300; Middle English geren, garren, gairen < Old Norse gera to do, make; akin to Old English gearwian to prepare

gar.

garage.

G.A.R.

Grand Army of the Republic.

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

Related Words for gar

bayonet, pike, weapon, bill, javelin, partisan, lancet, halberd, partizan

Examples from the Web for gar

Contemporary Examples of gar

"GAR Balks at Southern Flag in Parade," reported The Baltimore Sun.
Star-Spangled Confederates: How Southern Sympathizers Decided Our National Anthem
Jefferson Morley
July 4, 2013

Historical Examples of gar

Wait till I do that which may gar her look at me,' said the chivalrous youth.
Two Penniless Princesses
Charlotte M. Yonge
"I've got 'em, Gar," cried Emens, and the two started back for their guns.
Shadows of Shasta
Joaquin Miller
Gar Dosson growls this out between his teeth as he sets his gun in the corner.
Shadows of Shasta
Joaquin Miller
Also called the guard-fish, but it is from the Anglo-Saxon gar, a weapon.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth
God curse my sister Margot and the day she gar'd me carry the letters!
Privy Seal
Ford Madox Ford

British Dictionary definitions for gar

gar

noun plural gar or gars

short for garpike, garfish

gar

verb

(tr) Scot to cause or compel

Word Origin for gar

from Old Norse

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 gar

"pike-like fish," 1765, American English, shortening of garfish (mid-15c.), from Old English gar "spear," from Proto-Germanic *gaizo- (cf. Old Norse geirr, Old Saxon, Old High German ger, German Ger "spear"), from PIE *ghaiso- "stick, spear" (see goad).