gi
noun
a lightweight, two-piece, usually white garment worn by barefooted martial-arts participants, consisting of loose-fitting pants and a wraparound jacket with cloth belt.
gi
1 American
[gee]
/ gi /
Or
gie
noun
Gi
2
American
GI
3
American
[jee-ahy]
/ ˈdʒiˈaɪ /
Or
G.I.
noun
-
GI's,
plural
-
GIs
plural
adjective
-
rigidly adhering to military regulations and practices; regimented; spit-and-polish.
a platoon leader who tried to be more GI than anyone else.
-
of a standardized style or type issued by the U.S. armed forces.
GI shoes; GI blankets.
-
conforming to the regulations or practices of the U.S. armed forces.
Every recruit must get a GI haircut.
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of a U.S. enlisted person.
a typical peacetime GI complaint.
verb (used with object)
GI'd,
GI'ing
verb (used without object)
GI'd,
GI'ing
gi.
4
American
abbreviation
G.I.
5
American
Also
g.i.
abbreviation
-
galvanized iron.
-
gastrointestinal.
-
general issue.
-
government issue.
GI
1
British
noun
adjective
GI
2
British
abbreviation
-
gastrointestinal
-
glycaemic index
Gi
3
British
abbreviation
gi
4
British
/ ɡiː /
noun
gi
5
British
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of gi1
1970–75; shortening of Japanese jūdō-gi jujitsu garb, equivalent to jūdō judo + -gi, combining form of ki to wear
Origin of GI3
1915–20; originally abbreviation of galvanized iron, used in U.S. Army bookkeeping in entering articles (e.g., trash cans) made of it; later extended to all articles issued (as an assumed abbreviation of government issue ) and finally to soldiers themselves
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Many followed his mother's request to attend the ceremony wearing a gi, the uniform worn in Jiu-Jitsu.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2022
Karate, another first on the Olympics calendar, felt ground-breaking for a similar reason, with men and women wearing the sport’s classic gi.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 6, 2021
Put on your intellectual gi, because your media-studies class begins now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2021
That is something gi feel very special about is they were able to come up and see me.
From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2018
“Ugwuanyi,” she said, “you have to come home. Oga gi kwanu? Where is your master?”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Instead of walking the dog, I watch a short Gi video.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
As well as community service, the rapper has been ordered to stay away from the victims, identified as Jade and Baddie Gi, for three years.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2022
Two-way athlete Petelo Gi is a key player for Serra.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2021
Friends and family took to the Internet shorty after Kobe and Gi Gi passed to celebrate how much he loved his daughters, and fans soon followed with their own.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2021
Great and mighty upon the people was his spiritual power in the temple of Genchu and in the fourth year of Kokwa of the Gi Dynasty the Temple of Yosen became his beloved dwelling.
From Wisdom of the East Buddhist Psalms translated from the Japanese of Shinran Shonin by Shinran
"Moving this work into a clinical trial is a landmark development for our GI cancer program at Sylvester," Datta said.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 12, 2026
I also have 11 months and 20 days remaining under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Joseph attended Harvard University on the GI bill and completed majors in math and physics in just three years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
In an under-reported story, the GI Rights hotline, which helps service members understand their rights to discharge and responds to other concerns, has seen a large increase in calls.
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
“That’s very well put,” applauded Major Sanderson, who wore squeaking GI shoes and had charcoal-black hair that stood up almost straight.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
“But I remember not even lasting long enough to get a gi. And I don’t think John and Hayden even made it that far.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2022
“Your life belongs to you and you alone, soso gi. You will go back on Saturday. Let me hurry up and make some abacha for you to take.”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
But from 1940 to 1960, a number of forces — a boom in home building following World War II, low-interest loans provided through the G.I.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Cigarroa, 28, could have tapped his G.I. benefits, which cover up to $30,000 in tuition and fees for veterans, but he wants to save those for his 3-year-old daughter to use someday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
He later enrolled in what’s now Cal State L.A. under the G.I.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026
I grew up during the end of the Cold War, and I watched G.I.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2025
It was getting dark and he wanted G.I.
From "Forged by Fire" by Sharon M. Draper
“It was lugged home in some GI’s duffel bag, without its case.”
From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2024
Anyway, after the bomb was dropped, the GI's who worked at the laboratory came up and shook my hand and said, “You were the person who stuck the hand of the great Enrico Fermi.”
From Scientific American ● Jul. 27, 2023
“I am not suggesting for any moment that I know,” of the GI’s location, Gen. Harrison said Monday.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 24, 2023
The aircraft chase the GI’s informal prayer as reliably as the violins tail the piano in Chanda Dancy’s treacly score.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 21, 2022
Once in a while the GI's would get binoculars on them but they couldn't see any more details.
From The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects by Edward J. Ruppelt
In theory, the law was “colorblind,” offering the same educational support to Black GIs as to white GIs.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
"The soldiers who once called each other Redcoats and Yankees became the Tommies and the GIs who together saved the free world," he said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
American GIs brought swing records, Lucky Strike cigarettes and the Sears Roebuck mail-order catalog to Inuit residents who embraced the possibilities of 20th-century life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026
As we know, many children of Vietnamese women and American GIs did not get evacuated, and they were not killed by the victors.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2025
We had some gung-ho stationery, the kind with a picture of GIs jumping out of a chopper on it.
From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
