girdlestead Obs. exc. arch.
(ˈgɜːd(ə)lˌstɛd)
[f. as prec. + stead n.]
That part of the body round which the girdle passes; the waist.
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 5216 Þat at þe girdel stede it stode. ? 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 826 Hise shuldris of a large brede, And smalish in the girdilstede. c 1420 Lydg. Assemb. Gods 340 Aboute hym, in hys gyrdyll stede, hyng fysshes many a score. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. (1877) 60 Some [clokes] short, scarcely reaching to the gyrdle-stead, or wast. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. ix. 29 We walked a whole day along by the Isle of Sumatra, in the ouze up to the girdle-stead. 1696 Aubrey Misc. (1721) 94 An Antient Man..having a long and broad white Beard, hanging down to his Girdle Steed. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 57 One gleaming lock of gold..Fell far below her girdlestead. |
b. Used for ‘lap’.
| 1882 Swinburne Tristr. of Lyonesse vi. 51 There fell a flower into her girdlestead Which laughing she shook out. |