gest

American  

[jest] / dʒɛst /

Or geste

noun

• gests
  plural

1. a story or tale.

2. a deed or exploit.

3. Archaic. a metrical romance or history.

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gest British  

/ dʒɛst /

noun

1. a notable deed or exploit

2. a tale of adventure or romance, esp in verse See also chanson de geste

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gests
  plural

Etymology

Origin of gest

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French geste action, exploit < Latin gesta exploits, neuter plural past participle of gerere to carry on, perform

Explanation

A gest is something you would read about in a tale of King Arthur, such as a heroic deed or exploit by one of Arthur's knights. Geste is another spelling of the word. A gest may also be a poem or story about an epic deed or exploit. For example, The Song of Roland is an 11th-century French poem or gest about the heroic deeds of the emperor Charlemagne's knights. In fact, the French word geste is where we got our word gest in the medieval period, since French literature was the main source of such stories and poems. The Song of Roland belongs to a category of poem called chanson de geste in French, "song of heroic deeds."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gest gests

If a phrase sparks the gest of song memory endures longer — like the hum of a taut string in the dark.

From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2021

Zamyatin indicated that Andropov was also unlikely to attend the country's big gest annual televised spectacular, the Nov. 7 military parade in Red Square.

From Time Magazine Archive

The new rules would also put effective limits on bonuses, which often account for the big gest increases in executive compensation.

From Time Magazine Archive

With it, he also took on one of his big gest problems.

From Time Magazine Archive

“You could see your neighbor very dimly. Those ten seconds were the lon- gest ten seconds that I ever experienced.”

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin

You don’t want to drop $1 trillion in capital expenditures “and it’s the second mouse that gests the cheese,” Janasiewicz said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

His new novel sug gests that he may be suffering from over production.

From Time Magazine Archive

Thou high director of the same, Assist mine artless pen, To write the gests of Britons stout, And acts of English men.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden

The merry gests and marvellous exploits of the incomparable George Borrow—these form the unique theme of our Gitano Crusoe. 

From George Borrow Times Literary Supplement, 10th July 1903 by Thomas Seccombe

Thus had Achilles his owne gests design'd, He had his genius Homer far outshin'd.

From The Lucasta Poems by Richard Lovelace