Definitions for: Gall


[n] the trait of being rude and impertinent; inclined to take liberties
[n] a digestive juice secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder; aids in the digestion of fats
[n] a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
[n] abnormal swelling of plant tissue caused by insects or microorganisms or injury
[n] a skin sore caused by chafing
[n] an open sore on the back of a horse caused by ill-fitting or badly adjusted saddle
[v] irritate or vex; "It galls me that we lost the suit"
[v] become or make sore by or as if by rubbing



Webster (1913) Definition: Gall, n.[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]
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 bladder (Anat.), the membranous sac, in which the
bile, or gall, is stored up, as secreted by the liver; the
cholecystis. See Illust. of Digestive apparatus.

Gall duct, a duct which conveys bile, as the cystic duct,
or the hepatic duct.

Gall sickness, a remitting bilious fever in the
Netherlands. --Dunglison.

Gall of the earth (Bot.), an herbaceous composite plant
with variously lobed and cleft leaves, usually the
Prenanthes serpentaria.


Gall, n. [F. galle, noix de galle, fr. L. galla.]
(Zo["o]l.)
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.

Note: 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 insect (Zo["o]l.), any insect that produces galls.

Gall midge (Zo["o]l.), any small dipterous insect that
produces galls.

Gall oak, the oak (Quercus infectoria) which yields the
galls of commerce.

Gall of glass, the neutral salt skimmed off from the
surface of melted crown glass;- called also glass gall
and sandiver. --Ure.

Gall wasp. (Zo["o]l.) See Gallfly.


Gall, v. t. (Dyeing)
To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts. --Ure.


Gall, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Galled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Galling.] [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.]
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, v. i.
To scoff; to jeer. [R.] --Shak.


Gall, n.
A wound in the skin made by rubbing.

Synonyms: bile, bitterness, chafe, cheekiness, crust, freshness, fret, impertinence, impudence, insolence, irk, rancor, rancour, resentment

See Also: anger, animal disease, digestive fluid, digestive juice, discourtesy, enmity, enviousness, envy, grievance, grudge, heartburning, hostility, huffishness, ill will, irritate, oak apple, plant tissue, rudeness, saddle sore, score, sore, sulkiness, the green-eyed monster

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