gall Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an open sore on the back of a horse caused by ill-fitting or badly adjusted saddle
    saddle sore.
  2. noun a skin sore caused by chafing
  3. noun abnormal swelling of plant tissue caused by insects or microorganisms or injury
  4. noun a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
    rancour; rancor; bitterness; resentment.
  5. noun a digestive juice secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder; aids in the digestion of fats
    bile.
  6. noun the trait of being rude and impertinent; inclined to take liberties
    impertinence; freshness; crust; impudence; cheekiness; insolence.
  7. verb become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
    chafe; fret.
  8. verb irritate or vex
    irk.
    • It galls me that we lost the suit

WordNet

Gall noun
Etymology
OE. galle, gal, AS. gealla; akin to D. gal, OS. & OHG. galla, Icel. gall, SW. galla, Dan. galde, L. fel, Gr. , and prob. to E. yellow. See Yellow, and cf. Choler
Definitions
  1. (Physiol.) The bitter, alkaline, viscid fluid found in the gall bladder, beneath the liver. It consists of the secretion of the liver, or bile, mixed with that of the mucous membrane of the gall bladder.
  2. The gall bladder.
  3. Anything extremely bitter; bitterness; rancor.
    He hath . . . compassed me with gall and travail. Lam. iii. 5.
    Comedy diverted without gall. Dryden.
  4. Impudence; brazen assurance. Slang
Gall noun
Etymology
F. galle, noix de galle, fr. L. galla.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) An excrescence of any form produced on any part of a plant by insects or their larvae. They are most commonly caused by small Hymenoptera and Diptera which puncture the bark and lay their eggs in the wounds. The larvae live within the galls. Some galls are due to aphids, mites, etc. See Gallnut. ✍ The galls, or gallnuts, of commerce are produced by insects of the genus Cynips, chiefly on an oak (Quercus infectoria or Lusitanica) of Western Asia and Southern Europe. They contain much tannin, and are used in the manufacture of that article and for making ink and a black dye, as well as in medicine.
Gall transitive verb
Definitions
  1. (Dyeing) To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts. Ure.
Gall transitive verb
Etymology
OE. gallen; cf. F. galer to scratch, rub, gale scurf, scab, G. galle a disease in horses' feet, an excrescence under the tongue of horses; of uncertain origin. Cf. Gall gallnut.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Galled ; present participle & verbal noun Galling
Definitions
  1. To fret and wear away by friction; to hurt or break the skin of by rubbing; to chafe; to injure the surface of by attrition; as, a saddle galls the back of a horse; to gall a mast or a cable.
    I am loth to gall a new-healed wound. Shak.
  2. To fret; to vex; as, to be galled by sarcasm.
    They that are most galled with my folly, They most must laugh. Shak.
  3. To injure; to harass; to annoy; as, the troops were galled by the shot of the enemy.
    In our wars against the French of old, we used to gall them with our longbows, at a greater distance than they could shoot their arrows. Addison.
Gall intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To scoff; to jeer. R. Shak.
Gall noun
Definitions
  1. A wound in the skin made by rubbing.

Webster 1913