gall

Inherited from Latin gallus. Compare Occitan gal, Old French jal, Spanish gallo.


gall

“Durn ye!” he cried. “I’ll lam ye! Get offen here. I knows ye. Yer one o’ that gang o’ bums that come here last night, an’ now you got the gall to come back beggin’ for food, eh? I’ll lam ye!” and he raised the gun to his shoulder.

1917, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 6, in The Oakdale Affair:

Prichard, while keeping school, had the unmitigated gall to teach Greek, although he had never studied the subject.

1891, Exercises of class day of the senior class, Tuesday, June 23, 1891, page 33:

In July 1938, that was sufficient to call down contempt and hatred on us, and brand us as men of unmitigated gall.

1944, Teheran: Our Path in War and Peace, page 55:

It requires the cunning of a chess master, the planning of a field marshal, the adroitness and polish of a premier of France, or, failing these, the sheer, unmitigated gall of your door-to-door salesman.

1962, How to live with a calculating cat, page 47:

"Also, as apologetic as you were for occupying my time, which I had hoped to spend with my daughter, you used about twice as many words as you needed to, and wasted an entire paragraph complaining about your colleagues. I went back to the SCP-079 file — Supervisor Valis would have had the thing decommissioned years ago if it weren't for your blatant technofetishism. Yet, you have the gall to characterize the Foundation's ongoing political interventions and military operations as squabbles."

2022 October 18, Placeholder McD, “SCP-7579 [offset 1]”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2024-12-20:

(uncountable) Impudence or brazenness; temerity; chutzpah.

He shall flee from the iron weapon and the bow of steel shall strike him through. It is drawn and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 20:24–25:

(anatomy, dated, countable) A gallbladder.

(physiology, archaic, uncountable) Bile, especially that of an animal; the greenish, profoundly bitter-tasting fluid found in bile ducts and gall bladders, structures associated with the liver.

Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 29:18:

The stage its ancient fury thus let fall, / And comedy diverted without gall.

[…] I hated him with a hatred that turned my life to gall […]

1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], chapter XIV, in Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC:

(figurative, uncountable) Great misery or physical suffering, likened to the bitterest-tasting of substances.

en-noun

gall (countable and uncountable, plural galls)

From Middle English galle, from Old English ġealla, galla, from Proto-West Germanic *gallā, from Proto-Germanic *gallǭ.
The figurative senses (e.g., impudence, brazenness, chutzpah) are related to the literal sense (i.e., bile) via the lasting linguocultural effects of humorism, which governed Western medicine for many centuries before the advent of scientific medicine.
Related to Dutch gal, German Galle, Swedish galle, galla, Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ). Also remotely related with yellow.


gall

Riding a horse with bruised or broken skin can cause a gall, which frequently results in the white saddle marks seen on the withers and backs of some horses.

1989 National Ag Safety Database (Centers for Disease Control)

(countable) A sore on a horse caused by an ill-fitted or ill-adjusted saddle; a saddle sore.

And remember perfectly well his revolving eyes and his awkwardness, / And remember putting plasters on the galls of his neck and ankles;

1892, Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], →OCLC:

(pathology, countable) A sore or open wound caused by chafing, which may become infected, as with a blister.

Thou ſhalt be leader of this thouſand horſe,
Whoſe foming galle with rage and high diſdaine,
Haue ſworne the death of wicked Tamburlaine.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene i:

It moves my gall to hear a preacher descanting on dress and needle-work; and still more, to hear him address the British fair, the fairest of the fair, as if they had only feelings.

1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, “Animadversions on Some of the Writers who have Rendered Women Objects of Pity, Bordering on Contempt”, in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC, page 210:

He's sure got a lotta gall / To be so useless and all / Muttering small talk at the wall while I'm in the hall

1966, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Visions of Johanna”, in Blonde on Blonde:

(figurative, uncountable) A feeling of exasperation.

(countable, technical) A pit on a surface being cut caused by the friction between the two surfaces exceeding the bond of the material at a point.

hankauma

pit caused on a surface caused by friction between the surfaces

From Middle English galle, from Old English gealla (“a fretted spot on the skin”), from Proto-West Germanic *gallō, from Proto-Germanic *gallô (“infirmity, swelling, lesion”).


gall

[…] he went awkwardly in these clothes at first: wearing the drawers was very awkward to him, and the sleeves of the waistcoat galled his shoulders and the inside of his arms; but a little easing them where he complained they hurt him, and using himself to them, he took to them at length very well.

1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:

(ergative) To chafe, to rub or subject to friction; to create a sore on the skin.

I went below, and did what I could for my wound; it pained me a good deal, and still bled freely; but it was neither deep nor dangerous, nor did it greatly gall me when I used my arm.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “‘Pieces of Eight’”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part V (My Sea Adventure), page 219:

Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

(transitive, figurative) To bother or trouble.

The disposition for these detachments is as follows – Morgans corps, to gain the enemy’s right flank; Maxwells brigade to hang on their left. Brigadier Genl. Scott is now marching with a very respectable detachment destined to gall the enemys left flank and rear.

June 24, 1778, George Washington, The Writings of George Washington From the Original Manuscript Sources: Volume 12, 1745–1799

(transitive, figurative) To harass, to harry, often with the intent to cause injury.

Metrinko was hungry, but he was galled by how self-congratulatory his captors seemed, how generous and noble and proudly Islamic.

1979 December, Mark Bowden, “Captivity Pageant”, in The Atlantic, volume 296, number 5, pages 92–97:

Improper cooling and a dull milling cutter on titanium can gall the surface.

(transitive, technical) To cause pitting on a surface being cut from the friction between the two surfaces exceeding the bond of the material at a point.

I have seen you gleeking and galling at this gentleman twice or thrice. You thought, because he could not speak English in the native garb, he could not therefore handle an English cudgel

1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

(intransitive, obsolete, rare) To scoff; to jeer.

en-verb

gall (third-person singular simple present galls, present participle galling, simple past and past participle galled)

galls (present singular third-person)
galling (participle present)
galled (participle past)
galled (past)


gall

Even so, Redi retained a belief that in certain other cases—the origin of parasites inside the human or animal body or of grubs inside of oak galls—there must be spontaneous generation. Bit by bit the evidence grew against such views. In 1670 Jan Swammerdam, painstaking student of the insect’s life cycle, suggested that the grubs in galls were enclosed in them for the sake of nourishment and must come from insects that had inserted their semen or their eggs into the plants.

1974, Philip P. Wiener, editor, Dictionary of the History of Ideas:

(phytopathology) A blister or tumor-like growth found on the surface of plants, caused by various pathogens, especially the burrowing of insect larvae into the living tissues, such as that of the common oak gall wasp (Cynips quercusfolii).

But first for your Line. First note, that you are to take care that your hair be round and clear, and free from galls, or scabs, or frets: for a well- chosen, even, clear, round hair, of a kind of glass-colour, will prove as strong as three uneven scabby hairs that are ill-chosen, and full of galls or unevenness. You shall seldom find a black hair but it is round, but many white are flat and uneven; therefore, if you get a lock of right, round, clear, glass-colour hair, make much of it.

1653, Izaak Walton, chapter 21, in The Compleat Angler:

A bump-like imperfection resembling a gall.

գխտոր

From Middle English galle, from Old French galle, from Latin galla (“oak-apple”).


gall

Raw silk is not galled, it is dyed at once in the black without any preparation : the liquor should be hot

1815, Thomas Cooper, A Practical Treatise on Dyeing, and Callicoe Printing:

(transitive) To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts in dyeing.


gall

Gallic (of or pertaining to Gaul, its people or language)

gall (nominative singular)
gallok (nominative plural)
gallt (accusative singular)
gallokat (accusative plural)
gallnak (dative singular)
galloknak (dative plural)
gallal (instrumental singular)
gallokkal (instrumental plural)
gallért (causal-final singular)
gallokért (causal-final plural)
gallá (singular translative)
gallokká (plural translative)
gallig (singular terminative)
gallokig (plural terminative)
gallként (essive-formal singular)
gallokként (essive-formal plural)
gallul (essive-modal singular)
gallban (inessive singular)
gallokban (inessive plural)
gallon (singular superessive)
gallokon (plural superessive)
gallnál (adessive singular)
galloknál (adessive plural)
gallba (illative singular)
gallokba (illative plural)
gallra (singular sublative)
gallokra (plural sublative)
gallhoz (allative singular)
gallokhoz (allative plural)
gallból (elative singular)
gallokból (elative plural)
gallról (delative singular)
gallokról (delative plural)
galltól (ablative singular)
galloktól (ablative plural)
gallé (singular)
galloké (plural)
galléi (singular)
gallokéi (plural)


gall

head

gall (countable and uncountable, plural gallok)

gallok (plural)
gall (nominative singular)
gallok (nominative plural)
gallt (accusative singular)
gallokat (accusative plural)
gallnak (dative singular)
galloknak (dative plural)
gallal (instrumental singular)
gallokkal (instrumental plural)
gallért (causal-final singular)
gallokért (causal-final plural)
gallá (singular translative)
gallokká (plural translative)
gallig (singular terminative)
gallokig (plural terminative)
gallként (essive-formal singular)
gallokként (essive-formal plural)
gallban (inessive singular)
gallokban (inessive plural)
gallon (singular superessive)
gallokon (plural superessive)
gallnál (adessive singular)
galloknál (adessive plural)
gallba (illative singular)
gallokba (illative plural)
gallra (singular sublative)
gallokra (plural sublative)
gallhoz (allative singular)
gallokhoz (allative plural)
gallból (elative singular)
gallokból (elative plural)
gallról (delative singular)
gallokról (delative plural)
galltól (ablative singular)
galloktól (ablative plural)
gallé (singular)
galloké (plural)
galléi (singular)
gallokéi (plural)
gallom (first-person possessed-single possessive singular)
galljaim (first-person possessed-many possessive singular)
gallod (possessed-single possessive second-person singular)
galljaid (possessed-many possessive second-person singular)
gallja (possessed-single possessive singular third-person)
galljai (possessed-many possessive singular third-person)
gallunk (first-person plural possessed-single possessive)
galljaink (first-person plural possessed-many possessive)
gallotok (plural possessed-single possessive second-person)
galljaitok (plural possessed-many possessive second-person)
galljuk (plural possessed-single possessive third-person)
galljaik (plural possessed-many possessive third-person)


gall

first-person singular past indicative of gjalla

third-person singular past indicative of gjalla


gall

gall m (genitive singular gaill, nominative plural gaill)

gaill (genitive singular)
gaill (nominative plural)

From Middle Irish gall (“foreigner”), from Latin Gallus (“a Gaul”). Cognate with Scottish Gaelic gall and Manx goal.


gall

gaill (genitive singular)
gaill (nominative plural)
nominative (indefinite)
gall (indefinite singular)
gaill (indefinite plural)
vocative (indefinite)
a ghaill (indefinite singular)
a ghalla (indefinite plural)
genitive (indefinite)
gaill (indefinite singular)
gall (indefinite plural)
dative (indefinite)
nominative (definite)
an gall (definite singular)
na gaill (definite plural)
genitive (definite)
an ghaill (definite singular)
na ngall (definite plural)
dative (definite)
leis an ngall (definite singular)
don ghall (definite singular)
leis na gaill (definite plural)
gall
ghall
ngall


gall

gall m (genitive gaill, nominative plural gaill)

gaill (genitive)
gaill (nominative plural)
gall
ngall

Irish: gall

Manx: goal

Scottish Gaelic: gall


gall

gall m (genitive singular goill, plural goill)

goill (genitive singular)
goill (plural)


gall

gall tili

uz-adj

gall (comparative gallroq, superlative eng gall)

gallroq (comparative)
eng gall (superlative)


gall

inflection of gallu:
third-person singular present/future

(literary, rare) second-person singular imperative

inflection of gallu:
second-person singular imperative