gorget

[ gawr-jit ]

noun
  1. a patch on the throat of a bird or other animal, distinguished by its color, texture, etc.

  2. a piece of armor for the throat.

  1. a crescent-shaped ornament worn on a chain around the neck as a badge of rank by officers in the 17th and 18th centuries.

  2. a wimple of the Middle Ages, worn with the ends fastened in the hair.

Origin of gorget

1
1425–75; late Middle English <Old French. See gorge1, -et

Other words from gorget

  • gor·get·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use gorget in a sentence

  • Eight are engraved upon shell gorgets, one is cut in stone, three are painted upon pottery, and four are executed upon copper.

    The Swastika | Thomas Wilson
  • The specie has been sold, and manufactured into head-bands, breast-plates, or gorgets and bracelets.

  • The four women wore frog shell-gorgets (hanye), with strings of shell beads at the back of their necks.

    Seven Mohave Myths | A. L. Kroeber
  • And all were, as Boussac had said, masked, while one or two had breastpieces over their jerkins and some large gorgets.

    In the Day of Adversity | John Bloundelle-Burton
  • Perforated slate tablets like Coastal gorgets are unknown to us from the Yakima area.

    The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley | Harlan Ingersoll Smith

British Dictionary definitions for gorget

gorget

/ (ˈɡɔːdʒɪt) /


noun
  1. a collar-like piece of armour worn to protect the throat

  2. a part of a wimple worn by women to cover the throat and chest, esp in the 14th century

  1. a band of distinctive colour on the throat of an animal, esp a bird

Origin of gorget

1
C15: from Old French, from gorge; see gorge

Derived forms of gorget

  • gorgeted, adjective

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