ginger

Zingiber officinale
Zingiber officinale#Translingual

The pungent aromatic rhizome of a tropical Asian herb, Zingiber officinale, used as a spice and as a stimulant and acarminative.

Other species belonging to the same family, Zingiberaceae, especially those of the genus Zingiber

ginger:

(colloquial, often derogatory, countable) A person with reddish hair; a redhead.

The position in the country and in this House might be well expressed by a reference to the recent activities of the ginger party in Great Britain — the party that demanded that more ginger be put into the conduct of the war.

1918, Official Report of Debates, House of Commons, Canada Parliament House of Commons:

He had, however, "put some more ginger in two nights ago. Things move with exasperating slowness in this country.”

1990, Nancy Elizabeth Gallagher, Egypt's Other Wars: Epidemics and the Politics of Public Health:

The party managers demanded more “ginger.”

1919, John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, published 2007, page 77:

(colloquial, uncountable) Vitality, vigour, liveliness (of character).

Can you buy dry ginger in Croatia? If not what is an alternative?

(colloquial, countable and uncountable) Ginger ale, or can or bottle of such (especially if dry).

Here’s, um, not toast but bread, anyway. And a can of ginger.

A lot of people will tell you ‘ginger’ tastes best in glass, and there is a science behind that,” says the company’s commercial director.

2015 August 19, Douglas Fraser, bbc.co.uk:

Maybe I was naive in thinking that baking with fizzy juice (soda, ginger, pop, whatever your regional name for the stuff is!) would be straightforward.

2016 January 7, Amy, baking with granny.co.uk:

(colloquial, Scotland, especially Glasgow, countable and uncountable) Any fizzy soft drink, or can or bottle of such; pop; soda.

en-noun

ginger (countable and uncountable, plural gingers)

→ Greek: τζίντζερ (tzíntzer)

→ Japanese: ジンジャー (jinjā)

→ Maltese: ġinġer

→ Manx: jinshar

→ Welsh: sinsir

→ Zulu: újínja

Inherited from Middle English gingere, alteration of gingivere, from Old English gingifer, gingiber (influenced by Old French gingembre), from Medieval Latin gingiber, zingiber, from Latin zingiberi, from Late Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀕𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭 (siṃgivera), ultimately from Dravidian, compare Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (iñcivēr) and Tamil இஞ்சிவேர் (iñcivēr) from இஞ்சி (iñci, “ginger”) + வேர் (vēr, “root”).

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/


ginger

My eyes track upwards past the shoes to a pair of skinny legs, skinnier than mine, then to a tight black mini. Above that is a crisp white shirt. And crowning the whole thing is a mop of the gingerest hair I’ve ever seen in my life.

2003, Chrissie Glazebrook, “The Cadogan Hotel”, in Blue Spark Sisters, London: William Heinemann, →ISBN, page 22:

And her hair’s brilliant red. It’s even gingerer than ours.

2005, Vera M. Black, chapter 8, in Trembling on the Brink, Ilfracombe, Devon: Arthur H. Stockwell Ltd., →ISBN, page 153:

But as well as being a tough rugby player, Jammer [i.e., James Graham] also has the gingerest hair and palest skin in rugby (and possibly the world).

2009, Sean Long with Nick Appleyard, “Sozzled in Spain”, in Longy: Booze, Brawls, Sex and Scandal – The Autobiography of the Wild Man of Rugby League, London: John Blake, →ISBN, page 131:

(of hair or fur) Of a reddish-brown color.

a ginger tomcat

A chorus of ‘Aaah’s rose as they would in an episode of The Royle Family, while the gingerest boy in school swung his legs on the worktop and pretended he was Jamaican to be more like his mate sitting next to him, who wasn’t Jamaican either, but had parents who were.

2007, Lynsey Hanley, “The Wall in the Head”, in Estates: An Intimate History, London: Granta Books, →ISBN, page 151:

But now evolution has stepped in, the reds are starting to mutate into bright ginger versions of themselves – and they’re here to stay. Leading squirrel expert Tony Handeigh, 48, is excited about the new breed of squirrel and thinks we could see woodland warfare in the future. He says: “I’ve seen one close up and it’s more ginger than Mick Hucknall’s pubes. But when it’s angry it gets even more gingerer.”

2009 April 26, “Ginger squirrels pose new threat”, in Sunday Sport, Manchester: Sport Newspapers Limited, page 3:

He had everything. The Catweazle beard, the headband, the long flowing locks and he’s got to be the gingerest footballer ever (sorry Scholesy).

2010, James Chambers, “Alexi Lalas: The Genre Buster, General Custer”, in Footballers’ Haircuts: A New History, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, →ISBN, page 59:

His frizzy ginger hair is all slicked down straight, his sideburns are trimmed, and he’s wearing a suit. […] That is the rudest thing that anyone has ever said to me! Coming from my own father means that it’s twenty billion times worse. ‘Well, you’re . . . you’re . . . you’re the gingerest person in the world!’ I don’t know if that hurt or not.

2011, Lil Chase, Boys for Beginners, London: Quercus, →ISBN, pages 14 (chapter 3) and 192–193 (chapter 22):

The walls of Jupiter’s study were lined with bookshelves and framed photographs, mostly of strange landscapes and people. Jupiter himself only popped up in a few of them – younger, gingerer, skinnier, less beardy.

2017 October 10, Jessica Townsend, “Happy Hour at the Hotel Deucalion”, in Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, Sydney, N.S.W.: Lothian, Hachette Australia, →ISBN, page 100:

en-adj

ginger (comparative more ginger or (rare) gingerer, superlative most ginger or (rare) gingerest)

more ginger (comparative)
gingerer (comparative rare)
most ginger (superlative)
gingerest (rare superlative)

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/


ginger

They gingered the biscotti, black and whited the cookies and oated the meals.

2009, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar:

The first breather of the day came when Naomi brought some gingered lemonade out to the barn.

2013, Suzanne Woods Fisher, The Letters (The Inn at Eagle Hill Book #1): A Novel:

The accident was an excuse merely to replace an old-fashioned regular with old-fashioned notions by an active, fire-eating young general who would ginger things up.

1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 886:

Before an action began, he liked to make bold predictions as to its outcome; this was part of his way of gingering people up, of creating an aura of victory to come.

2004, Eric Larrabee, Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants, and Their War, page 464:

Regarding this human angle, DeMille wrote, "I am sometimes accused of gingering up the Bible with large and lavish infusions of sex and violence. I can only wonder if my accusers have ever read certain parts of the Bible."

2007, J. Stephen Lang, The Bible on the Big Screen: A Guide from Silent Films to Today's Movies:

(idiomatic, transitive) To enliven, to spice (up).

If he had been gingered, he would have gone well. After I bought him, I gingered him.

1850, William Percivall, editor, The Veterinarian, page 594:

Gingering is decided cruelty.

1884, The British Veterinary Journal, volume 18, page 426:

There he is, moving in his best form, with the full knowledge that that long whip in his rear will once more be round his flanks, as it has often been before, if he fails to wake up when he comes out for a show—well gingered, too, we should say, and all life and action.

1893, Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes, volume 60, page 161:

(transitive) To apply ginger to the anus of a horse to encourage it to carry its tail high and move in a lively fashion.

These steps may not be immediately popular, but the society may have to bear with them until they succeed in gingering renewed interest and pride in the language so chosen.

2002, K. K. Prah, Rehabilitating African Languages:

In conclusion, intensive campaigns should be done in relation to gingering the nomads' interest in education, improve their interaction with neighbours and encourage them to start considering a more sedentary pastoral life.

2006, Africa e Mediterraneo: cultura, politica, economia, società:

I attended their concert first, so that was what gingered me to continue this school.

2015, “19-year-old student at a music school in Nigeria”, in BBC Newshour:

(Nigeria, transitive) To inspire (someone); to give a little boost to.

en-verb

ginger (third-person singular simple present gingers, present participle gingering, simple past and past participle gingered)

gingers (present singular third-person)
gingering (participle present)
gingered (participle past)
gingered (past)

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/


ginger

He’s going to get an interview about ten o’clock, making the old gentleman predict war, and we’ll get out the gingerest kind of a special on the strength of it!

1899 April 1, Richard Stillman Powell [pseudonym; Ralph Henry Barbour], “The President and Tom Collins”, in The Saturday Evening Post, volume 171, number 40, Philadelphia, Pa.: The Curtis Publishing Company, →ISSN, page 626, column 2:

Wherefore, although for my own car I want the “gingerest” possible engine, I realise that it has shortcomings for the general market and I would commend to designers the ideal of an engine that shall be as “woolly” as possible, so long as its artificially restricted dimensions shall not cause its owner to find himself unable to tackle respectable gradients.

1921 January 29, W. Harold Johnson, “[The Automobile World.] My Ideal Small Car Specification”, in Country Life: The Journal for All Interested in Country Life & Country Pursuits, volume XLIX, number 1277, London, page lxvi, column 1:

“Coney Island” is by far the best picture the Hip has had. That says very little for a house that has held the worst, but this F. B. O. [Film Booking Offices] will do business this week for the Hip because it more than makes good under one of the gingerest of names. And a name that should draw by itself.

1928 February 15, “Coney Island”, in Variety, volume XC, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Variety, Inc., →ISSN, page 27, column 3:

They, the Rabbis, for better or for worse, were very ginger with this question.

2006, John W. McGinley, About the King’s Choice to Build His Palace Right on Top of a Dunghill: (Or, How to Conceptualize Jewishly), Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 540:

After a very ginger landing, everyone aboard was able to see up close how lucky they had been to reach base.

Moving very slowly, taking extremely ginger steps, the woman felt beads of sweat dripping down from her body.

2009, Franklin Newman, The Prophetess of Bromfryel: The Knights of Callistor, page 509:

My face hurt like a son of a bitch every time I placed even the gingerest of fingertips on it, but from what I could see from my reflection in the broad blade of my letter opener, it still hadn’t swollen.

2011, Craig Russell, chapter 5, in The Deep Dark Sleep (Lennox; 3), London: Quercus, →ISBN, page 106:

To walk, each crutch he kinda hopped forward a little and used his torso to drag his legs after, using them as the gingerest element of a tripod.

2013, T. D. Badyna, chapter 4, in Flick, Whistle-Bit Books, →ISBN, page 44:

Silence settles once more between us all, filled only by the gingerest of clinks of forks reluctantly hovering over flesh.

2015, James Hannah, “Rib”, in The A to Z of You and Me, London: Black Swan, Transworld Publishers, →ISBN, page 221:

(chiefly British, regional, Canada, US) Very careful or cautious; also, delicate, sensitive.

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/


ginger

In a very careful or cautious manner; also, delicately, sensitively.

en-adv

ginger (comparative more ginger, superlative most ginger)

more ginger (comparative)
most ginger (superlative)

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/


ginger

Spring training began on Christmas Day, when my cousin and I gingered onto the lot behind the fire station to try out our new spikes.

1972 September 1, Paul Hemphill, “I Gotta Let the Kid Go”, in Life, volume 73, number 9, →ISSN, page 42:

She gingered her way into the river and timidly splashed into its waters.

1979, Bill Marshall, Bukom, Longman, →ISBN, page 83:

I gingered my hands into my grandfather’s [boxing] gloves.

1992, Donald Anderson, “My Name Is Stephen Mann”, in Aethlon, University of Iowa Press, published 2001, →ISBN, page 11:

Takin’ good care not to topple into the depths o’ this muddy ol’ ooze, I gingered my way across the muddy path along the river’s edge until I arrived at that big hat.

2009, Montana Kid Hammer, The Old West Adventures of Ornery and Slim: The Partnership, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 47:

To move gingerly, in a very careful and cautious manner.

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/


ginger

Cockney rhyming slang
Cockney rhyming slang

(UK, Cockney rhyming slang) A homosexual.

Cockney rhyming slang: ginger beer, queer.

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/


ginger

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/