English Dictionary — Definitions & Meanings

gg

noun

(gaming slang) "Good game" — said at the end of a match, win or lose, as a sign of sportsmanship.

ghadaffy

name

An uncommon spelling of Gaddafi.

Ghana

name

A country in West Africa; official name Republic of Ghana.

gharial

noun

A crocodile-like reptile of the species Gavialis gangeticus, in the family Gavialidae.

ghastly

adj

Extremely unpleasant, shocking, or horrifying.

ghee

noun

A type of clarified butter widely used in South Asian cooking.

ghent

name

The capital city of the province of East Flanders, Belgium.

gherkin

noun

A small cucumber, usually pickled.

ghetto

noun

A part of a city, historically often walled or enclosed, where a minority group — especially Jews — was forced to live.

ghormley

name

A surname of Irish origin.

ghost

noun

The soul of a dead person believed to appear to or haunt the living.

ghosting

noun

The practice of ending a friendship, romance or working relationship by suddenly cutting off all contact and ignoring every message, without any explanation.

ghostlike

adj

Apparently invisible, like a ghost; ghostly in nature.

ghostly

adjective

Resembling or suggestive of a ghost; eerie and pale.

ghostwrite

verb

To write a book or article that is published under someone else's name.

ghostwriter

noun

Someone who is paid to write books or speeches that are credited to another person.

ghoul

noun

A legendary demon or evil spirit said to rob graves and feed on corpses.

ghoulish

adjective

Showing a morbid delight in death, gore, or suffering.

ghrelin

noun

Ghrelin is a hormone released by the stomach when it is empty that increases appetite and triggers growth hormone release from the pituitary gland.

gi

noun

The loose-fitting uniform worn for martial arts such as judo or karate.

Gia

name

A feminine given name, often used as a short form of Gianna or Giovanna, of Italian origin.

Giancarlo

name

A masculine Italian given name combining Gianni and Carlo.

Gianluca

name

A masculine Italian given name combining Gianni and Luca.

Gianna

name

A feminine Italian given name, a form of Giovanna meaning "God is gracious."

giant

noun

A legendary humanlike being of enormous size and strength.

giaour

noun

A non-Muslim, especially a Christian, an infidel; especially as used by Turkish people with particular reference to Christians such as Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, Serbs and Assyrians.

gib

noun

A castrated male cat.

Gibb

name

A Scottish surname, notably borne by the Gibb brothers of the band Bee Gees.

gibber

noun

Nonsensical talk that cannot be understood.

gibbering

adjective

Talking rapidly and unintelligibly, often out of fear or confusion.

gibberish

noun

Speech or writing that makes no sense or is impossible to understand.

gibbet

noun

An upright post with a crossbar, once used to carry out executions and to display the body afterwards as a warning to others.

gibbon

noun

A small, long-armed ape that swings rapidly through trees using its arms.

Gibbons

name

An English surname derived from the given name Gibb, a pet form of Gilbert.

gibbous

adj

Curved outwards, like a bulge.

Gibbs

name

An English surname derived from the given name Gibb, a pet form of Gilbert.

Gibby

noun

Informal name for a Gibson-brand guitar.

gibibyte

noun

Precisely 2³⁰ bytes (1,073,741,824), equal to 1024 mebibytes, as distinct from a gigabyte.

gibingly

adv

In a mocking or teasing way.

giblet

noun

The edible internal organs of a bird.

giblets

noun

The edible internal organs of a bird, such as the heart, liver, and gizzard.

Gibraltar

noun

A small coffee drink made by serving a cortado-style espresso and milk in a short glass.

Gibson

noun

A cocktail made from gin (or sometimes vodka) and dry vermouth, garnished with a pickled cocktail onion instead of an olive.

giddiness

noun

The feeling of being dizzy or unsteady on your feet.

giddy

adjective

Feeling dizzy or unsteady, as if the head is spinning.

giddyup

interjection

A command used to tell a horse to start moving or go faster.

Gideon

noun

A member of the Gideons, a Christian organisation known for placing free copies of the Bible in hotel rooms and giving them to travellers and students.

GIF

noun

A short, silent, looping animation used online to react, joke or demonstrate something.

Gifford

name

A surname of English/Norman origin.

gift

noun

Something given to someone freely, without payment expected in return.

gifted

adjective

Having an unusually strong natural talent or ability, especially intellectual.

giftful

adj

Connected with giving presents.

gig

noun

A single performance booking for a musician or entertainer.

gigabyte

noun

A unit of computer data equal to a thousand megabytes.

gigantesque

adj

Huge in size, like a giant.

gigantic

adjective

Extremely large in size.

giggle

verb

To laugh quietly in a light, often nervous or amused way.

giggles

noun

A spell of uncontrollable light laughter.

giggling

noun

Light, high-pitched laughter, often hard to suppress.

Gigi

name

A feminine given name, often a pet form of Gina, Georgina, or Virginia.

gigolo

noun

A man who is paid or financially supported by a woman in exchange for companionship or romantic attention.

gigue

noun

An Irish dance that developed from the jig and was used within the Baroque partita.

gijinka

noun

A picture or character showing something that is not human, such as an animal or object, drawn as a person.

Gil

name

A masculine given name and surname, often a short form of Gilbert, and also a common Spanish and Hebrew name.

gila

noun

Short for Gila monster, a large venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and Mexico.

Gilbert

noun

A unit of magnetomotive force in the older CGS system of measurement, used in physics and electrical engineering.

Gilchrist

name

A Scottish surname meaning "servant of Christ."

gilcrease

name

A surname of Scottish Gaelic origin.

gild

verb

To cover with a thin layer of gold; to cover with gold leaf.

gilda

noun

A Basque-style pintxo made by skewering olives, a pickled chili pepper, and an anchovy fillet on a small stick.

gilded

adjective

Covered with a thin layer of gold, or having the appearance of gold.

gilder

noun

A person whose job is covering objects with gold.

gilding

noun

The skill or craft of covering a surface with gold leaf.

Giles

name

A masculine given name and surname derived from the Greek name Aegidius.

gilet

noun

A man's waistcoat.

gilett

name

A surname that is a variant of Gillette.

gilette

name

The name of a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department, France.

Gilfoyle

name

An Irish surname, notably the name of a character in the television series "Silicon Valley."

Gilgamesh

name

The legendary king of Uruk and hero of the ancient Mesopotamian "Epic of Gilgamesh," one of the earliest known works of literature.

gilgul

noun

Reincarnation; the belief that a soul is reborn in a new body.

gilham

name

A family name that began as a patronymic.

gill

noun

The breathing organ on the side of a fish or other water-dwelling animal, used to take oxygen from the water.

gillam

name

A family name that began as a patronymic.

gillard

name

A family name that came from a first name.

gillatt

name

A family name that began as a patronymic.

Gilles

noun

One of the traditional costumed performers who lead the Carnival of Binche in Belgium, known for their wax masks, feather headdresses, and orange-throwing.

Gillespie

name

A Scottish and Irish surname meaning "servant of the bishop," notably borne by jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie.

gillespite

noun

A red mineral made up of barium, iron, silicon and oxygen, with a tetragonal crystal shape.

gillet

name

A family name that began as a patronymic.

gillett

name

A family name that began as a patronymic.

Gillette

name

A French-derived surname, widely known as a razor and shaving brand founded by King Camp Gillette.

gillham

name

A family name that began as a patronymic.

Gilliam

name

An English surname, a variant of William, notably borne by filmmaker Terry Gilliam of Monty Python.

Gillian

noun

(dated, informal) A girl or young woman, especially one seen as flirtatious or promiscuous.

gilliatt

name

A family name that began as a patronymic.

Gillies

name

A Scottish surname derived from a Gaelic personal name meaning "servant."

Gilligan

name

An Irish surname, widely known from the television series "Gilligan's Island" and from screenwriter Vince Gilligan.

Gillis

name

A Scottish surname, a variant of Gillies, derived from a Gaelic word for "servant."

gillott

name

A family name that began as a patronymic.

gillum

name

A family name that began as a patronymic.

gilly

noun

(slang) Torpedo juice, a crude alcoholic drink historically improvised by sailors from torpedo fuel alcohol.

gillyflower

noun

Any flower that smells of cloves.

Gilman

name

An English surname.

gilmer

name

The name of a town that is the county seat of Upshur County, Texas, United States.

Gilmore

name

A Scottish surname, later also used as a given name.

gilmour

name

A Scottish surname derived from Scottish Gaelic.

gilravage

verb

To eat and celebrate loudly and wildly.

Gilroy

name

A surname, and the name of a city in California known for growing garlic.

gilt

adj

Covered with a thin layer of gold or gold-coloured material.

gim

noun

Dried edible seaweed used in Korean cooking, often as thin toasted sheets.

Gimbert

name

A French surname, a variant related to the Germanic name Gilbert.

gimlet

noun

A small hand tool with a pointed screw tip, used to drill holes.

gimme

contraction

A casual, run-together way of saying "give me".

gimmick

noun

A clever trick, feature, or gadget used mainly to attract attention rather than add real value.

gimp

noun

A narrow decorative braid or trim, often stiffened with wire or cord, used to edge curtains, furniture, or clothing.

gimped

adj

Describes yarn or thread that has been tightly wrapped in a spiral with another strand of yarn or wire, or more generally, anything wound round with string or wire.

gimpy

adj

Walking with a limp, or (of a limb) weak or unsteady.

gin

noun

A clear spirit flavoured mainly with juniper berries, used both on its own and in cocktails.

gina

noun

A crude slang shortening of "vagina".

ginch

noun

(informal) Underwear, especially briefs worn by men.

ginevra

name

A female first name of Italian, variant of Guinevere origin.

ging

noun

A group of people, such as a troop or gang.

ginger

noun

A knobbly, spicy-tasting root used fresh, dried, or ground as a cooking spice.

gingerbread

noun

A firm, spiced cake or biscuit flavoured with ginger, often cut into festive shapes.

gingerly

adv

Very carefully and cautiously, so as not to cause harm or damage.

gingernut

noun

A hard biscuit with a ginger flavour, often dipped into tea.

gink

noun

A man or fellow, particularly, used disparagingly, a silly, naive or socially awkward man; a goof.

ginnel

noun

A narrow path or alley, often running between rows of houses.

ginni

name

A female forename, a variant of Ginny or Ginnie.

Ginnie

name

A feminine given name, a pet form of Virginia or Genevieve.

Ginny

name

A familiar short form of the names Virginia or Ginevra.

gino

noun

Slang, often mildly mocking, for a man of Italian or Mediterranean background seen as flashy or image-obsessed.

ginormous

adj

Extremely, almost comically large.

Ginsberg

name

A Jewish surname of German origin, notably borne by poet Allen Ginsberg.

ginseng

noun

A plant with a forked, root that is dried and used in traditional medicine and supplements, believed to boost energy.

Ginza

name

An upscale shopping and entertainment district in Tokyo, Japan.

Gio

name

A masculine given name, a short form of Giovanni or Giorgio.

Giordano

name

An Italian surname and given name, derived from the name Jordan.

Giorno

name

An Italian surname meaning "day," also known as a character name in the manga and anime series "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure."

Giovanni

name

A masculine Italian given name, the Italian equivalent of John, meaning "God is gracious."

gip

verb

To remove the insides of a herring.

giraffe

noun

A tall African mammal with an extremely long neck and legs and a patchy, spotted coat, the tallest living land animal.

Girard

name

A French surname and given name derived from a Germanic name meaning "brave with a spear."

Girardi

name

An Italian surname derived from Girardo, notably borne by baseball manager Joe Girardi.

giraud

name

A surname of French, equivalent to English Gerald origin.

gird

verb

To tie something round with a rope or cord.

girder

noun

A large horizontal beam, made of steel, wood or concrete, that supports a building or structure.

girdle

noun

A belt or band worn around the waist, especially one that supports stockings.

Giri

name

A South Asian surname, common in Nepal and India, sometimes referring to a Hindu monastic title.

girl

noun

A female child.