▪ I. gird, n.1 Obs. exc. north.
(gɜːd)
Also 9 Northumb. gord.
[var. of girth, perh. influenced by gird v.; but cf. erd, yird = earth.]
1. † a. A girdle (obs.). b. † A strap or band of any kind (obs.); a saddle-girth.
| 13.. K. Alis. 2272 Glitoun..smot Tauryn..On the helm with the sweord, That the dynt stod at the gird. 1566 in D. H. Fleming Mary Q. of Sc. (1897) 499 Tway skenyeis of girdis to bind up the bedde. a 1613 Overbury A Wife (1638) 167 He hath, as it were, put a gird about the whole world. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. v, What! Drink so shallow? It is enough to break both girds and pettrel. 1825–80 Jamieson, Gird, Girdan, the girth of a saddle. Perths. |
2. A hoop for a barrel, or one used as a child's plaything. (Cf. girr, girth n.1 2.)
| 1612 Sc. Bk. Rates in Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 308 Girds of Irone for punsheones or pypes the hundreth weght, viii li. 1622 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 294 For fower gerdes for the runlets, 4d. 1791 T. Newte Tour Eng. & Scot. 413 This chain of rocks is called, by the country people, one of the Girds of the Earth. a 1800 Fair Annie xxvii. in Scott Minstr. Scott. Bord., Has your wine barrels cast the girds, Or is your white bread gone? 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., Gord, a hoop. ‘The gords is all comin' off the rain-tubs.’ ‘The bairns hez all getten gords ti play wi'.’ |
3. Comb., as † girdsting, a piece of wood for making hoops. (Cf. girth-sting, girth n.1 8.)
| 1534 Aberd. Reg. V. 19 (Jam.) Ane thousand half girdstingis and vi{supc} haill gridstingis. 1612 Sc. Bk. Rates in Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 308 Girdstingis the hundreth, xxs. |
▪ II. gird, n.2
(gɜːd)
Also 4 gyrd.
[f. gird v.2]
† 1. A sharp stroke or blow. Obs. rare.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 629 The brothir that the hand-ax bar..A gyrd rycht to the king can mak. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xxii. 60 With hir to sport and play, With fauldit neif, and tak hir mony gird. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 79/1 When hee toucheth them to the quicke, when hee giueth them girdes with y⊇ spurre. |
† b. fig. A stroke of policy. Obs. rare—1.
| 1513 Douglas æneis vii. vii. 51 Was it nocht evin be sik a fenȝeit gyrd, Quhen Paris..Socht to the citie Laces in Sparta, And thar the douchtyr of Lydea stal awa. |
2. A sudden movement or jerk, a spurt of action; chiefly in phrases at a gird, for a gird, by fits and girds (cf. fit n.2 4 c); also in a gird: (dial.), in a trice. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 149 Lowsynge muste be..so quycke and hard yat it be wyth oute all girdes. c 1570 Marr. Wit & Sci. i. A iv, Agayne, with labor by it selfe, great matters compaste bee, Euen at a gyrde in very lyttel time or none wee see. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter ii. 18 The devotion of worldlings is all for a gird. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 56 All that he saith either by fits and girds of Calvin, or in his justest narratives. 1825–80 Jamieson, Gird, a very short space of time, a moment. ‘I'll be wi' you in a gird.’ 1887 S. Chesh. Gloss., Gird, only in the phrase ‘by fits an' girds’ = by fits and starts. |
3. A spasm of pain, sudden pang. Now dial.
| 1614 T. Adams Devil's Banq. 213 What is..the torment of the reynes, to the stiches, girds, and gripes of an aking Conscience? 1667 South Serm. (1823) I. 371 Old age comes attended with many painful girds and achings. 1714 Steele Lover No. 7 My Heart relented, and gave me several Girds and Twitches. 1876 Mid-Yorksh. Gloss. s.v., A poorly person will say, in humorous reference to his weak condition, ‘I's middling at meal-times, but I've hardish girds between.’ |
4. A sharp or biting remark directed against a person; a gibe, ‘dig’, ‘hit’. In common use c 1580-1700; now somewhat arch.
| 1566 Drant Horace's Sat. a iv b, Those that wyll them [satires] write With taunting gyrds & glikes and gibes must vexe the lewde. 1676 Marvell Mr. Smirke Wks. 1875 IV. 25 Many a dry bob, close gird, and privy nip has he given him. a 1734 North Lives (1826) III. 390 For his girds were oblique, and touched to the quick, but not directly exceptionable. 1834 Sir H. Taylor Artevelde ii. iv. iii. (1849) 218 Lois of Sanxere, I ask thee in this presence, Fling'st thou these girds at me? 1881 Contemp. Rev. Dec. 894, I mean no gird at this tendency. |
b. with punning allusion to gird n.1
| 1593 Nashe 4 Lett. Confut. 72 Thou shalt be double girt with girds. |
5. dial. An outburst (of laughter).
| c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lanc. Dial. Wks. (1862) 42 Th' fly'ring Karron seet up o Gurd o Leawghing. 1790 Mrs. Wheeler Westmld. Dial (1821) 103 She fetched up a girt gird a laffin, an sed [etc.]. |
▪ III. gird, v.1
(gɜːd)
Inflected girded and girt. Forms: 1 gyrdan, Northumb. ᵹi-gyrde, 4–6 gerd(e, 4–7 girde, (5 gyrdyn, gurde, 6 gyrde), 6– gird. pa. tense. α. 1 gyrde, 3–4 gurde, (4 gurd, gerd), 4–5 girde, (5 pl. gurdene), 6 gyrd(e. β. 4 girdede, 5–6 gyrded, 6 gerded, 6– girded. γ. 4 gyrt, gert, girt(e, 5 gyrte, 7– girt. pa. pple. α. 1 gyrded, 4 gyrdid, Sc. girdit, 6 ger-, gyrded, 6– girded. β. 3 i-gurd, 4 gurde, 4–6 gird(e, 5–6 gyrd(e. γ. 4 gert, 5 girte, 6 gerte, gyrte (gyrthe), 3– girt.
[OE. gyrdan = OS. gurdian (Du. gorden), OHG. gurten (MHG. and mod.G. gürten), ON. gyrða (OSw. giorþa, Sw. gjorda, Da. gjorde) to gird:—OTeut. *gurđjan. To other grades of the same root belong Goth. (bi-, uf-)gairdan to gird, gairda girdle; see girth, garth2; some scholars connect also Goth. gard-s house, corresp. to garth1, yard.
Throughout its whole history the English word is chiefly employed in rhetorical language, in many instances with more or less direct allusion to biblical passages.]
1. trans. To surround, encircle (the waist, a person about the waist) with a belt or girdle, esp. for the purpose of confining the garments and allowing freer action to the body. Chiefly refl. or pass.; also, after Biblical phrase, to gird one's loins, reins, etc. Also to gird up, gird about.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xxi. 18 Mið-ðy [þu] uere ᵹiungra ðu waldes ðec ᵹigyrde..miððy uutudlice ðu bist ᵹeuintrad..oðer ðec gyrdeð. a 1225 Ancr. R. 418 Ȝe schulen liggen in on heater, and i-gurd. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3149 Sod and girt, stondende, and staf on hond. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1804 Coryneus first vp he stirt, & wyþ a cloþ his body gyrt. 1382 Wyclif Exod. xii. 11 Ȝe schulen girde about ȝoure reynes. ― Tobit v. 5 Tobie..fond a ȝung man stondende, ful faire, gird [1535 Coverdale gyrded vp], and as redi to gon. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 7054 The lauendres kirtel on she cast, She gird hir, and tukked hir fast. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 432 b/2 For gyrdle he gyrded hym on his bare flesshe wyth a corde. 1535 Coverdale 2 Kings iv. 29 Girde vp thy loynes, and take my staffe in thy hande, and go thy waye. ― Luke xii. 35 Let youre loynes be gerded aboute. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 1113 Those Leaves They gathered..And..together sowd, To gird thir waste. 1782 Cowper Truth 82 In shirt of hair, and weeds of canvas dressed, Girt with a bell-rope that the Pope has blessed. 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. vii, He girt his loins and came. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. iv, She girded herself with a white apron. 1872 [Earl Pembroke & G. H. Kingsley] S. Sea Bubbles vii. 176 They girded him with strange belts. |
b. fig. To prepare (oneself) for action; to brace up (oneself) for, to, or to do something. Often with up.
| c 1450 tr. De Imitatione i. xix. 22 Girde þe as a man ayenst þe fendes wickednes. 1592 tr. Junius on Rev. xiv. 1 As ready gird to doe his office in the midst of the Church. 1672 Cave Prim. Chr. i. iii. (1673) 49 The mind is strengthened and girt close by indigence and frugality. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 702 [They] one in heart, in interest, and design Gird up each other to the race divine. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. vi. (1869) 126 To gird themselves up to any enterprize of pith or moment. 1860 Motley Netherl. (1868) I. i. 15 He was already girding himself for his life's work. |
† c. To clothe with or in a garment confined by a girdle. Obs. rare.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Sam. vi. 14 Dauid is gird [Vulg. accinctus; 1388 clothed; 1611 girt] with a surplees. 1697 Dryden æneid vii. 258 Girt in his Gabin Gown the Heroe sate. |
† d. To bind (a horse) with a saddle-girth. (Cf. girth v. 2.) Obs.
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 3985 Adoun þai liȝt & her hors girten. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xxxix. 495 Gawayne and Galerone gurdene [v.r. dyghtis] here stedes. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 25 He is a foole..That to his saddle would leape on hye Before or he haue girt his horse. c 1566 Merie Tales in Skelton's Wks. (1843) I. p. lxv, Skelton commaunded the ostler to sadle his mare, & the hosteler did gyrde the mare hard. 1677 Miege Dict. Eng.-Fr., To gird a Horse, cengler un cheval. |
2. fig. To invest or endue with attributes, esp. (after biblical phrase) with strength, power, etc.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xvii. 31 [xviii. 32] Se god me ᵹegyrde mid mæᵹnum, and mid cræftum. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xvii. 33 [ibid.] (Horstm.) Lauerd þat girde me with might. 1388 Wyclif Ps. xvii. 33 [ibid.] God that hath gird me with vertu. Ibid. lxiv. 7 [lxv. 6] Thou makest redi hillis in thi vertu, and art gird with power. a 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 126 The vyrgyn mari in whome thou hast cladde the in fayrnesse and gyrthe the in strengthe. 1580 Sidney Ps. xviii. ix, This God then girded me in his all-mighty pow'rs. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 194 The Son On his great Expedition now appeer'd, Girt with Omnipotence. 1812 S. Rogers Columbus i. 49 Sent forth to save, and girt with God-like power. 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 643 The sights with which thou torturest gird my soul With new endurance. 1874 Blackie Self-Cult. 14 Without carrying away any living pictures of significant story which might..gird them with endurance in a moment of difficulty. |
3. To equip (oneself or another) with a sword suspended from a belt fastened round the body; sometimes with reference to investing a person with the sword of knighthood.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 2865 (Gr.) Hine se halᵹa wer gyrde græᵹan sweorde. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls.) 3615 Mid is suerd he was igurd, þat so strong was & kene. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3291 Þe kniȝt..gerd him wiþ a god swerd. c 1450 Merlin 322 Gonnore hir-self girde hym with his swerde. 1568 R. Grafton Chron. II. 95 Upon Easter day..he was gyrde with the sworde of the Duke of Briteyn. 1641 Baker Chron. (1660) 127 And because he had not yet received the Order of Knighthood, he was by Henry Earl of Lancaster girt solemnly with the sword. 1663 Butler Hud. i. ii. 742 Was I for this entitled Sir, And girt with trusty sword and spur. 1848 Gallenga Italy Past & Pr. I. p. xxv, They gave her a standard; they girt her sons with the weapons of war. |
4. a. To fasten (a sword or other weapon) to one's person by means of a belt. Const. on, upon, to. Also with on adv.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xliv. 4 [xlv. 3] Gyrd nu þin sweord ofer þin þeoh [L. super femur tuum] þu Mihtiᵹa. a 1300 E.E. Psalter ibid. (Horstm.) Girde þi swerde of iren and stele Ouer þi thee. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. cc. 181 Andrew of herkela..worthely arrayed and with a swerd gurt aboute hym. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xliii. 146 He dyd on his helme and gyrte on his sword. 1555 Eden Decades 270 Hauynge theyr quyuers of arrowes gerte to them. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 713 My Bow and Thunder, my Almighty Arms, Gird on, and Sword upon thy puissant Thigh. 1718 Prior Knowledge 247 The combatant too late the field declines, When now the sword is girded to his loins. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. II. xlv. 689 A trusty sword was constantly girt to their side. 1832 Lytton Eugene A. i. iv, His pistols were still girded round him. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge iii, Girt to his side was the steel hilt of an old sword without blade or scabbard. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. v. xxii, The doctor took up his hat and pistols, girt on a cutlass..and..crossed the palisade. |
b. To secure (clothing, armour, etc.) on the person by means of a girdle; also to gird on, gird up.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8962 Þo caste þis gode mold hire mantel of anon & gurde aboute hire middel a uair linne ssete. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 316 Ȝif þise cloþis ben gurde & more large in widnesse, þei beren on hem more synne. 1535 Coverdale John xxi. 7 Simon Peter..gyrde his mantell aboute him & sprange in to y⊇ see. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 109 An old gowne girded to him with a thong. 1611 Bible 1 Kings xx. 32 So they girded sackcloth on their loynes. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 542 Let each His Adamantine coat gird well. 1791 Cowper Iliad xi. 17 Bade the Greeks Gird on their armour. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles v. xxxiv, Warn Lanark's knights to gird their mail. 1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies 45 He rode with his finely shaped head and breast naked, his blanket being girt round his waist. 1855 Kingsley Heroes ii. (1868) 24 So Perseus arose, and girded on the sandals and the sword. 1877 J. Northcote Catacombs i. v. 71 With his tunic girt high about his loins. |
c. To put (a cord, etc.) round something. rare.
| 1726 Swift Gulliver i. i, Very strong cords..which the workmen had girt round my neck, my hands, my body, and my legs. |
5. transf. and fig. † a. To surround as with a belt; to tie firmly or confine. Also to gird up, gird in, gird about, gird together. Obs.
| c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xii, Sommers greene all girded up in sheaues. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. v. Wks. 1856 I. 103 Then I Catch straight the cords end; and..offer a rude hand As readie to girde in thy pipe of breath. 1611 Bible Ecclus. xxii. 16 As timber girt and bound together in a building [etc.]. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) Index to Plate 84 Two stantions of timber which are girded together in several places, with wood or Iron. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 82 How [they will] gird the Sphear With Centric and Eccentric scribl'd o're. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 128 For I take the seed..to be a cluster of bubbles wryed up snug, or a bottome of hoops or springs closely girt or knit together. |
b. To encircle (a town, etc.) with an armed force; to besiege, blockade.
| 1548 Hall Chron. Hen. VI, 153 b, He..determined to get the town of Vernoyle in perche, and gyrd it round about with a strong seage. 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. (1599) C, But trust me, Princes, I haue girt his fort, And I will sacke it. a 1627 Hayward Four Y. Eliz. (Camden) 66 But the French was so streightly girt up within Lieth, that no supplies were brought unto them. 1814 Cary Dante, Inf. xiv. 64 This of the seven kings was one, Who girt the Theban walls with siege. 1867 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 284 The whole place is secretly girt in with a military force. |
c. To fasten tightly, draw close (as a fetter or bond) upon a person. rare.
| 1732–8 Neal Hist. Purit. IV. 139 His Highness girt the laws close upon the Papists. |
6. Said of that which surrounds: To encircle, enclose, confine.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 206 Some of þe naddrene biclupten heom so faste al a-boute Þat heom þouȝte heo scholden to-berste so streite heo gurden heom with-oute. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 616 Gret flaggatis tharof thai maid, Gyrdit with Irne-bandis braid. 1749 Smollett Regicide v. ix, An iron crown intensely hot, shall gird Thy hoary Temples. 1781 Cowper Retirement 243 Girt with a chain he cannot wish to break His only bliss is sorrow for her sake. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) IV. 444 A discoloration..which extended..over the loins and very nearly girded the body. 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. iii. ii. (1858) 187 Girt with the iron ring of Fate. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 157 Then first since Enoch's golden ring had girt Her finger [etc.]. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. viii. 197 A mighty mound girded by a fosse. |
b. of natural surroundings or barriers, esp. of rivers.
| 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. viii. 20 Like to his Iland, girt in with the Ocean. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 14 The navigable rivers, whereof some (as it were) gird in the whole realme. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 276 That Nyseian Ile Girt with the River Triton. 1809 N. Pinkney Trav. France 27 This lawn..was girded entirely around by a circle of lofty trees. 1853 G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 13 The range thus girds in and defines the plain. 1870–4 J. Thomson City Dreadf. Nt. i. iv, A river girds the city west and south. |
c. of a ring or crowd of people; chiefly refl. or pass.
| 1671 Milton Samson 1415 Your company along I will not wish, lest it perhaps offend them To see me girt with friends. 1807 Wordsw. White Doe iii. 133 On foot they girt their Father round. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 37 Girt with a crowd of listening Graces, With expectation on their faces. 1864 Tennyson Boadicea 5 Boadicea..Girt by half the tribes of Britain. |
d. of immaterial surroundings (chiefly pass.).
| 1629 Milton Nativity 202 Ashtaroth..Now sits not girt with tapers' holy shine. 1671 ― P.R. i. 120 So to the coast of Jordan he directs His easy steps, girded with snaky wiles. 1833 Tennyson Pal. Art 273 Shut up as in a crumbling tomb, girt round With blackness as a solid wall. 1836 H. Holland Med. Notes (1839) 274 It is well worthy of note..how long in fact it [life] may continue, thus narrowed and girt in on every side. 1847 L. Hunt Jar Honey ix. (1848) 120 Unheard was shepherd's song, And silence girt the woods. |
e. To move round. rare.
| 1688 Prior On Exod. iii. 14, 51 Why does each consenting Sign With prudent Harmony combine..To gird the Globe, and regulate the Year? 1812 Woodhouse Astron. v. 20 They [Navigators] must therefore have surrounded, or girded the Earth. |
† 7. intr. Of a string: To have a grip upon what it encircles. Obs.
| 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. I. 187 The String..will touch and gird more upon the Groove of the Work, and consequently..will the better command the Work about. |
▪ IV. gird, v.2
(gɜːd)
Forms: 4 girden, gerde, gorde, 4–5 gyrd, gurd(e, 4–6 girde, 5–6 gyrde, (7 guird-, guerd), 4– gird. pa. tense 3 gurde, 4 gert(e, 4–5 girde, girt, 4–6 gird, gyrd; 4 pl. girdiden, 5 Sc. girdit, 6– girded, (7 guirded). pa. pple. 3 gurd, 4 y-girt, 4–5 gird(e, 5 gurt, (7 gurde), 6– girded.
[Of obscure origin.
Derivation from OE. ᵹierd rod, yard, is impossible on account of the initial guttural, and indirect connexion with that word appears also inadmissible, as WGer. ar- from az- has no corresponding weak grade ur-.]
† 1. trans. To strike, smite. Often with advb. compl. describing the effect of the stroke, as to gird down, gird off, gird out, also to gird in two, gird to death, gird to ground, etc. Also of pain: To touch sharply (rare).
| c 1205 Lay. 1596 He gurde suard on þat hæfd þat he grund sohte. 13.. K. Alis. 2299 A-two peces he hadde him gurd, No hadde Glitoun y-come. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1240 Grimly wiþ gret cours eiȝþer gerdeþ oþer, & William wiþ god wille so wel þe duk hitt [etc.]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 177 Girde out the grete teth of the grym best. a 1400–50 Alexander 2474 Settis all þe gailis on gledis & girdis doun þe wallis. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 35 With that the Meir gird him vpon the gumes. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xiii. 622 If I trespas eft, gyrd of my hede. 1606 Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows i. §92. 107 When therefore some sodain stitch girds me in the side. 1612 W. Martyn Youth's Instruct. 91 The horseman..with a stiffe..cudgel so guirded and laced the backe..of his..master. 1618 Latham 2nd Bk. Falconry (1633) 49 That will cause her [the hawk] to gird and master them, as it were, at the sowce. |
b. absol. To deliver a blow. Also Sc. to let gird (cf. to let drive).
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2062 [Gawayn] gordez to Gryngolet with his gilt helez. a 1400–50 Alexander 1219 Gers many grete syre grane & girdis þurȝe maillis. 1450–70 Golagros & Gaw. 105 The grume..leit gird to schir Kay, Fellit the freke with his fist flat in the flure. a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. xv, Thay girnit and lait gird with grainis, Ilk gossip uder grievit. |
† 2. To impel or move hastily or rudely; to thrust in, cast up, drive back, pull out, throw down; to fire (a gun) to (= at). Obs.
| 13.. Coer de L. 1086 In at hys [the lion's] throte hys arme he gerte, Rent out the herte. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 379, I Glotoun girt it [food] vp, er I hadde gone a myle. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10370 But the grekes were so grym, þai gird hom abake. a 1400–50 Alexander 2227 Sum with gunnes of þe grekis girdis vp stanes. 1450–70 Golagros & Gaw. 848 Thai..girdit out suerdis on the grund grene. a 1650 Scot. Field 93 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 216 Many a gaping gunn was gurde to the walls, where there fell of the first shott manie a fell ffooder. |
3. intr. To move suddenly or rapidly; to rush, start, spring. Also to gird forth, gird forward, gird out, gird together, gird up. Obs. exc. dial.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 911 Þe grounde of gomorre [schal] gorde into helle. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 417 With that come gyrdand, in A lyng, Crystall off Seytoun. a 1400–50 Alexander 1243 Ane Beritinus..Come girdand out of Gadirs, out of þe grete cite. 1513 Douglas æneis x. xiv. 161 Eneas gyrd abufe hym with a brayd. 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. ii. (1593) 32 They girded forth, and cutting through the clouds..they overflue the easterne winde apace. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 58 The freest horse, at the whiske of a wand, girdes forwarde. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 428 No sooner hangs he by the hooke, but he runneth and girdeth with it in his mouth too and fro. 1887 S. Chesh. Gloss., Gird, to push, hurry about. The word is common in the phrase ‘runnin’ an' girdin'.’ |
4. fig. a. absol. To make ‘hits’ at, to jest or gibe at (rarely against, upon). Also in indirect passive. (The current sense.)
| 1546 Bale Eng. Votaries i. (1560) 52 Let the gogle eied Gardiner of winchester gyrde at it tyll his rybbes ake. 1608 Middleton Fam. Love ii. iii, I wonder why many men gird so at the law. a 1639 W. Whately Prototypes i. xix. (1640) 173 You must labour to jest, scoff, and gird, or raile against such and such sinnes. 1679 J. Goodman Penit. Pardoned iii. vi. (1713) 371 Why doth he not reprove debauchery..rather than..be always guerding at the sanctified party? 1823 Lamb Let. to Southey Corr. (1868) I. 212 You are always girding at what some pious..folk think to be so [religion]. 1862 Sala Seven Sins I. vi. 123 The clubmen talked club scandal and girded at the Committee. 1891 Times 11 July 11/2 Not only is each member of the Triple Alliance denounced and girded at in turn, but [etc.]. |
b. trans. To assail with jest or sarcasm; to sneer or scoff at. ? Obs.
| 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 29 Sum..he hath spitefully girdid behind there backs. 1628 Earle Microcosm., Discontented Man (Arb.) 28 His life is a perpetuall Satyre, and hee is still girding the ages vanity. 1721 Strype Eccl. Mem. I. xxvi. 191 He girded him as he had done the Archbishop of York, telling him he looked for a new world. 1850 L. Hunt Autobiog. xi. 184 The Examiner had been long girding him on incompetency. |
Hence † gird-off ppl. a., struck off, severed.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings xx. 22 Thanne she wente into al the puple, and spak to hem wiseli, the which the gird of heed of Siba..casten forth to Joab. |