gird

[gurd]

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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.

Origin of gird

before 950; Middle English girden, Old English gyrdan; cognate with German gürten

Related formsgird·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms for gird

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3. brace, steel, fortify, strengthen.

gird

[gurd]

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

1175–1225; Middle English gyrd a stroke, blow, hence a cutting remark, derivative of girden to strike, smite < ?

Related formsgird·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for gird

brace, secure, buttress, reinforce, fortify, ready, ring, encompass, belt, bolster, prepare, support, enclose, pen, circle, blockade, steel, enfold, band, girdle

Examples from the Web for gird

Contemporary Examples of gird

They warn authorities to gird themselves for the possibility that many more men could surface.
Penn State’s Next Battle: More Sandusky Accusers Come Forward
Diane Dimond
July 18, 2012
As we gird our national loins for the mid-term elections in November, here is a brisk primer on the movement.
My A-Z Guide to the Tea Party
Tunku Varadarajan
September 18, 2010

Historical Examples of gird

Let them gird sackcloth on their loins and hide their faces.
The Christian
Hall Caine
Does it become you, sir, do you think, to gird at one who is your prisoner?
The Strolling Saint
Raphael Sabatini
Be a soldier, then, and gird thee for the great battle that is at hand.
Maurice Tiernay Soldier of Fortune
Charles James Lever
Come, gird up thy loins and answer like a man, if thou canst.
Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence
Various
Gird on, as gift from the gods, this sword that is immortal.
A Book of Myths
Jean Lang

British Dictionary definitions for gird

gird

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

gird

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

1. a blow or stroke
2. 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

gird

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

Word Origin and History for 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]