gird
1[ gurd ]
/ gɜrd /
verb (used with object), gird·ed or girt, gird·ing.
to encircle or bind with a belt or band.
to surround; enclose; hem in.
to prepare (oneself) for action: He girded himself for the trial ahead.
to provide, equip, or invest, as with power or strength.
RELATED WORDS
brace, secure, buttress, reinforce, fortify, ready, ring, encompass, belt, bolster, prepare, support, enclose, pen, circle, blockade, steel, enfold, band, girdle
Nearby words
- girasole,
- giraud,
- giraud, henri honoré,
- giraudoux,
- giraudoux, jean,
- gird one's loins,
- girder,
- girdle,
- girdle anesthesia,
- girdle sensation
Origin of gird
1before 950; Middle English girden, Old English gyrdan; cognate with German gürten
gird
2[ gurd ]
/ gɜrd /
verb (used without object)
to gibe; jeer (usually followed by at).
verb (used with object)
to gibe or jeer at; taunt.
noun
a gibe.
Origin of gird
21175–1225; Middle English gyrd a stroke, blow, hence a cutting remark, derivative of girden to strike, smite < ?
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for gird
gird
1/ (ɡɜːd) /
verb girds, girding, girded or girt (tr)
to put a belt, girdle, etc, around (the waist or hips)
to bind or secure with or as if with a beltto gird on one's armour
to surround; encircle
to prepare (oneself) for action (esp in the phrase gird (up) one's loins)
to endow with a rank, attribute, etc, esp knighthood
Word Origin for gird
Old English gyrdan, of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse gyrtha, Old High German gurten
verb
(when intr, foll by at) to jeer (at someone); mock
(tr) to strike (a blow at someone)
(intr) to move at high speed
noun
- a blow or stroke
- a taunt; gibe
a display of bad temper or anger (esp in the phrases in a gird; throw a gird)
Word Origin for gird
C13 girden to strike, cut, of unknown origin
noun
Scot a hoop, esp a child's hoopAlso: girr
Word Origin for gird
a Scot variant of girth
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
gird
Old English gyrdan "put a belt or girdle around; encircle, surround; invest with attributes," from Proto-Germanic *gurthjanan (cf. Old Norse gyrða, Old Saxon gurdian, Old Frisian gerda, Dutch gorden, Old High German gurtan, German gürten). Related to Old English geard "hedge, enclosure" (see yard (n.1)). Related: Girded; girding.
Throughout its whole history the English word is chiefly employed in rhetorical language, in many instances with more or less direct allusion to biblical passages. [OED]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper