▪ I. gin, n.1
(dʒɪn)
Forms: 3–7 ginne, gynne, 3–6 (also 9 in sense 8) gyn, 5 gyne, (4–5 gen), 7 gynn, 7–8 ginn, 3– gin.
[Aphetic form of OF. engin, engine (q.v.).]
† 1. Skill, ingenuity. Also in a bad sense: Cunning, craft, artifice (cf. engine 2). quaint of gin: clever in contriving or planning; also of things, curiously contrived. Obs.
| c 1200 Ormin 7087 Uþwitess swiþe wise, Þatt..unnderrstodenn maniȝwhatt Þurrh snoterr gyn bi sterrness. a 1250 Owl & Night. 765 Mid lutle strengþe þurȝ ginne Castel and burȝ me mai iwinne. a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sci. (Wright) 2 Oure Loverd, that al makede i-wis, queynte is of ginne. a 1300 Vox & Wolf 72 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 60 To one putte wes water inne, That wes i-maked mid grete ginne. 1340–70 Alisaunder 1135 Therfore þe Kyng had cast too keepe þat steede, In þat caue craftely enclosed with gynne. c 1410 Chron. Eng. 180 in Ritson Metr. Rom. (1802) II Feole thinges ther beth ynne Craftilich ymad with gynne. c 1470 Hardyng Chron. lxvii. viii, By subtelte and his sleyghty gyn. |
† 2. An instance or product of ingenuity; contrivance, scheme, device. Also a cunning stratagem, artifice, trick (
cf. engine 3).
Obs.| c 1205 Lay. 1336 Brutus iherde siggen..of þan ufele ginnen þe cuðen þa mereminnen. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 131 Hu he miȝte mid sume ginne His lemman blauncheflur awinne. 1340–70 Alisaunder 644 By ginnes of Gemetrie hee ioifully telles Bothe þe date & þe daie. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 4352 Wan we buþ wyþ such a gynne þe brigge-ȝates al wyþ-ynne, þan wol y blowe myn horn. c 1450 Cokwolds Daunce 149 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 44, I wyll asey with a gyne All the cokwolds that here is yn, To knaw them wyll I fond. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 543 So be no way, be ony wyle or gyn, Withoutin leif mycht no man wyn thairin. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. vii. 7 The Hag she found, Busie (as seem'd) about some wicked gin. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. Pref., Indeliable tincture; which rub'd in The Gallants doe account their bravest gin. 1723 Trickology 16 They have an incurable Itch to intermeddle with their secret and profound Gins. |
† b. Loosely used for; Affair, thing.
| c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2867 Her hors apolk stap in Þe water her wat ay whare; It was a ferly gin, So heye vnder hir gare It fleiȝe. |
3. A mechanical contrivance or device; a machine. (
Cf. engine 4.)
Obs. exc. arch.| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 491 Þen watz þer ioy in þat gyn [the ark] & much comfort in þat cofer. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 314 Trille another pyn, For ther-in lith theffect of al the gyn. ― Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 612 This false gyn Was nat maad ther, but it was maad bifore. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 2035 To ordayn and dyvyse a gyne, Forto holde the piler up-ryght. 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God (1620) 542 He meaneth of all the gins in instruments, it is too tedious to stand reckning them here. 1662 Hobbes Consid. (1680) 54 Not every one that brings from beyond Seas a new Gin, or other janty device is therefore a Philosopher. 1820 Shelley Let. to Maria Gisborne Poet. Wks. (1891) 369/1 To breathe a soul into the iron heart Of some machine portentous, or strange gin. |
† b. An instrument, a tool.
Obs.| 13.. K. Alis. 607 Neptanabus byhalt his gynne And saide [etc.]. 1570 Billingsley Euclid vi. Introd. 153 Instruments of..drawing huge thinges incredible to the ignorant, and infinite other ginnes. a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Custom Country i. i, Yet if you play not faire play and above boord too, I have a foolish gin here [Rtldg. Laying his hand upon his sword], I say no more. c 1618 Fletcher Q. Corinth iii. i, I should curse my fortune Even at the highest to be made the ginne To unscrew a mother's love unto her son. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia i. 3 Their Boats are but one great tree..burnt in the forme of a trough with gins and fire. |
† c. A spring or similar piece of mechanism.
| 1592 Greene Art Conny Catch. ii. 5 His stirhops are made with vices and gins, that one may put them in a paire of glooues. 1613 Bp. Andrewes 96 Serm. (1641) 462 There goeth search and enquiry to it; paines and diligence are requisite; we shall not come thither, with the turning of a ginne. 1616 Ibid. 694 Of our selves, to move: not wrought to it, by any gin, or vice, or skrew made by art. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 49 Idolles, and Statues, which artificially are moued by vises & gynnes. |
4. spec. A contrivance for catching game, etc.; a snare, net, trap, or the like. (
Cf. engine 5 c.)
| c 1220 Bestiary 645 [The hunter] him seluen sit olon, bihalt, Weðer his gin him out biwalt. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 576 With his handys quhile he wrocht Gynnys, to tak geddis & salmonys. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxiii. 105 He may wylde fewle slayne with hawkes and dere slaen with hundes or oþer gynnez. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. xviii, I am take & bound with this gynne. 1530 Palsgr. 225/1 Gynne to take quayles with, ronnelle. 1603 Drayton Heroic. Ep. i. 120 The little Fishes..With fearefull nibbling flye th' inticing Gin. 1637 Heywood Dial. ii. Wks. 1874 VI. 115 They onely shall lost labor win, Who seeke to catch an old Fox in a gin. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. iii. 277 He made a Planetary Gin Which Rats would run their own heads in. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iii. App. iii, A noose that slipped as glib as a bird-catcher's gin. 1781 Crabbe Library Wks. 1834 II. 48 Her subtile gin, that not a fly escapes! 1815 Sporting Mag. XLVI. 4 He discovered the defendants setting gins or engines to catch hares. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S. Co. 250 These animals get caught, too, in the gins. |
| fig. 1340 Ayenb. 28 Hyre guodes to loȝy þe enuious agrayþeþ alle his gynnes. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1620 His gynnes hath he [Love] sett withoute, Ryght for to cacche in his panters These damoysels & bachelers. 1484 Caxton Curiall 2 b, For to make the grete and myghty to falle and ouerthrowe she [Fortune] setteth gladly her gynnes. 1563 Mirr. Mag., Blacksmith ii. 7 Caught in gyn wherein is layd no bayt. 1639 Fuller Holy War v. x. (1640) 247 Satan, the master juggler, needeth no wires or ginnes to work with, being all ginnes himself. 1677 F. Sandford Geneal. Hist. 128 So strong was the conceit of a Prophecy of Merlin (that Ginn of Error) That Llewellin should one day possess the Diadem of Brute. 1721 R. Keith tr. T. à Kempis' Solil. Soul x. 174 For many are the Gins for that Soul which loveth to gad abroad. 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 548 Beware the Wheel of Fortune—'tis a gin, You'll lose a dozen times for once you win. 1873 E. J. Brennan Witch of Nemi 17 That ye may shun the gins that trap to hell. |
† 5. An engine of torture, the rack. (
Cf. engine 5 b.)
Obs.| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1980 Þis pinfule gin wes o swuch wise iginet þæt te twa turnden eiðer wiðward oðer. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 2283, I bequethe hym the gowte and the gyn. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 35 Typhœus joynts were stretched on a gin. 1592 Lodge Euphues Shadow (1883) 14 Trying vanitie in the gin, attyring Vertue with the garland. |
† b. A fetter.
Obs.| 1663 Butler Hud. i. ii. 968 To keep from flaying scourge thy skin, And ancle free from iron gin. |
† 6. A machine or instrument used in warfare for casting stones or other missiles. (
Cf. engine 5.)
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11435 Hii þat wiþinne were þe castel wuste vaste Mid arblast and mid oþer ginnes, vaste aȝen hom caste. a 1300 Cursor M. 9890 (Gött.) Þis castel..may neyhe na warid wiht, Ne na maner gin [Cott. MS. engine] of were May cast þar-till it for to dere. c 1320 Cast. Love 680 He stont on heiȝ roche and sound..Þat þer ne mai wone non vuel þing, Ne derue no gynnes castyng. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 429 Iosephus þrewe out brennynge oyle uppon alle her gynnes and smoot al her gynnes. c 1400 Rom. Rose 4176 They dredde noon assaut Of gynne, gunne, nor skaffaut. 14.. Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 784/13 Hoc mangnalium, a gyn. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlii. 67 Than Bissines the grit gyn bend, Straik doun the top of the foir tour. a 1650 Merline 1854 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 480 When they to the castle came wylde fyer soone them nume & cast itt in with a gynne. |
† 7. A device for fastening or securing a door, window, etc.; a bolt, bar, or the like.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 1759 Þe windou was wit suilk a gin Men moght it open þat loked wit-in. c 1320 Cast. Love 803 Þe ffoure smale toures abouten..Euerichon wiþ a ȝat wiþ ginne Þat may non vuel come þer-inne. ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 97 Every wyndowe..On eche syde had there a gynne, Sperde with many a dyvers pynne. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 398 b, The barres and gynnes beyng forced backe. 1710 Ruddiman Gloss. to Douglas' æneis, Gyn, the bolt or lock of a door. |
† b. to know the gin: to know the way or trick of opening (a door, etc.).
Obs.| 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) p. lv, Of our poore houses men soone may knowe the gin So at our pleasure we may go out and in. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 523 Donewald..knew weill the gyn of euerilk chalmer duir. 16.. Rattling Roaring Willie in Berw. Nat. Club (1886) 475 Sae weel as I ken the gate, And far better the gin. a 1650 Old Robin of Portingale 88 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 239 About the Middle time of the Night came 24 good knights in, Sir Gyles he was the formost man, soe well he knew that ginne. |
8. a. A mechanical apparatus used for hoisting heavy weights, a crane; now usually a tripod in form, one leg being movable for variations in height, and the other two a certain distance apart, with a winch or drum between them round which the rope is wound.
| 1447–8 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 399 Ropes Barowes gynnes herdelles. 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 91 Resing gynne of xiij peces with apparell. 1512 in Willis & Clark Cambridge I. 608 Gynnes, wheles, cables. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Gin..an Engine for raising or lifting up of great Guns. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Cabre, a sort of gin, or machine resembling the sheers of a ship. 1779 Forrest Voy. N. Guinea 9 She had for a mast an artillery triangle (gin or tripod) made of three stout bamboos. 1788 Trans. Soc. Arts VI. 208 The Gin will not hoist it on such soft ground. 1868 Kinglake Crimea (1877) IV. iii. 60 The cranes, the gins, the engines of all kinds. |
| fig. 1651 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. iii. (1739) 16 The Privy Council of Kings hath been an old Ginn of State, that at a sudden lift could do much to the furthering of the present estate of publick Affairs. |
b. Mining. An apparatus for hoisting, pumping, etc., usually a drum or windlass worked by horse- or wind-power.
| 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 148 They draw it [the water] up by Gin..the Gin is always work't by Horses. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 23 [The Blast] may tear up your Timber Work and shatter the Gins. 1794 Nat. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 328 With these ginns or vertical wheels both water and coals were drawn from the pits. 1804 W. Tennant Ind. Recreat. (ed. 2) II. 168 The cattle are not driven in a gin as ours, but retire away from the well, and return to its mouth. 1841 Hartshorne Salop. Antiq. Gloss., Gin, a wooden perpendicular axle, which has arms projecting from its upper part, to which a horse is fastened. A common mode of drawing materials out of a coal-pit when a work is in its infancy. 1862 Smiles Engineers III. 9 The gin consists of a large drum placed horizontally round which ropes attached to buckets and corves are wound, which are thus drawn up or sent down the shafts. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Gin, 2. A pump operated by windmill. |
9. A machine for driving piles. ?
Obs. exc. U.S.| 1682 [see gin-boat in 12 b]. 1828–32 in Webster. 1889 in Century Dict. |
10. A machine for separating cotton from its seeds. Also called a
cotton-gin (see
cotton n.1 10).
| 1796 [see cotton n.1 10]. 1807 Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) iii. App. 22 One of Nolan's men constructed the first cotton gin they ever had in the province. 1817 J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 271 There are public gins established in almost every part, to which a planter may take his cotton, and have it cleaned and packed. 1854 Hooker Himal. Jrnls. II. xxvi. 237 The cotton is cleansed here, as elsewhere, by a simple gin. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 306 A mill, where by means of a peculiar apparatus called a gin, the cotton is separated from them. |
11. Naut. (See
quot. 1867.)
| c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 38 Topsail sheets when made of chain are rove through gins instead of quarter blocks. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Gin, a small iron cruciform frame, having a swivel-hook, furnished with an iron sheave, to serve as a pulley for the use of chain in discharging cargo and other purposes. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 73 The chain is led through a gin. |
12. attrib. and
Comb., as (senses 8 and 11)
gin-block,
gin-pulley,
gin-rope,
gin-sheers,
gin-tackle; (sense 4)
gin-net,
gin-trap; (sense 10)
gin-mill,
gin-roller.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Gin-block, a tackle block with a hook to swing from the gib of a crane or from the sheer of a gin. |
| 1891 Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker (1892) 3 The astute Scotch engineer of the *gin-mill. |
| 1883 Contemp. Rev. Sept. 355 He may dexterously and quickly lay a *gin-net. |
| 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., *Gin Pulley, the pulley of a gin block. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 969/2 Another [gin] has a roller-knife acting in combination with a *gin-roller. |
| 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 91 *Gynne rope with an hoke of iren. 1547 Privy Council Acts (1890) II. 447 Gynne ropes, j coyle. |
| 1879 Man. Artillery Exerc. 639 *Gyn sheers, with or without lengthened prypole. |
| 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 317 A *gyn tackle consists of one triple and one double block: the fall is fixed to the double. |
| 1843 Zoologist I. 223 A *gin-trap was set. |
b. Special comb.:
gin-beam Mining (see
quot.);
† gin-boat, a boat carrying a pile-driver;
† gin-hole, ? a hole in the ground where a gin (sense 8 or 9) has stood;
gin-horse, a horse that works a gin (sense 8 b), a mill-horse;
gin-house, a building where cotton is ginned;
gin-pit (see
quot.);
gin-pump = gin n. 8 b;
gin-race,
-ring, the circle or track in which a gin-horse moves;
gin-saw (see
quot.);
gin-wheel, (
a) the wheel or drum of a gin used for hoisting, etc.; (
b) a wheel in a cotton gin.
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, *Gin-beam, a timber cross-bar carrying the pully-wheels over the top of a gin-pit. |
| 1682 J. Collins Salt & Fishery 21 Of Banking in, and Recovering the Ground. This is to be performed by aid of *Ginn-Boats, to drive into the Mud rows of Trees, and Posts sharpened at the Lower end. |
| 1632 J. Taylor (Water P.) On Thame Isis B iv, And Sunning locke the groundsill is too high, Besides two *Gin-holes that are very bad And Sunning bridge much need of mending had. |
| 1789 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) II. 217 They are like a parcel of old *gin-horses, that cannot be drove out of their pace. 1794 Burns Wks. II. 435 There is a species of the human genus that I call the gin-horse class..Round and round they go..without an idea or wish beyond their circle. 1828 Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 240 This orbit may be..the circle of a gin-horse. |
| 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxxiv, In an old forsaken room of the *gin-house. 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 474 The engine-house, gin-house, and ware⁓houses stand about a hundred yards from the river. |
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, *Gin-pit, a shallow mine or pit-shaft..worked by a gin. |
| a 1728 Woodward Nat. Hist. Fossils (1729) I. 165 The *Gin-pump of Mostyn Coal-pits. |
| 1862 Smiles Engineers III. 9 Buckets and corves..which are thus drawn up or sent down the shafts by a horse travelling in a circular track or ‘*gin-race’. |
| 1841 Hartshorne Salop. Antiq. Gloss., *Gin-ring. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Gin-saw, one used in a cotton-gin for drawing the fibers through the grid, leaving the seed in the hopper. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 185 This machine moulds 30,000 [bricks] in a day's work of 12 hours, with the help of one horse, yoked to a *gin wheel. 1862 Smiles Engineers I. 323 The old methods of the gin-wheel and tub, and the chain pump had been tried. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Gin-wheel, a wheel in a cotton-gin. It may mean a wheel with curved pointed teeth or claws, which act as the teeth of the usual saws in drawing the fiber through the grid; or the brush-wheel, which cleans the lint from the said wheel or saw. |
▪ II. gin, n.2 (
dʒɪn)
Also 8
jin.
[Abbreviation of geneva1.] 1. a. An ardent spirit distilled from grain or malt; see
geneva1 and the note there.
| 1714 Mandeville Fab. Bees (1723) I. 86 The infamous Liquor, the name of which deriv'd from Juniper-Berries in Dutch, is now, by frequent use..from a word of midling length shrunk into a Monosyllable, Intoxicating Gin. 1728 Swift Jrnl. Mod. Lady Wks. 1755 III. ii. 194 Their chatt'ring makes a louder din Than fish-wives o'er a cup of jin. 1738 Pope Epil. Sat. i. 130 This..hurls the Thunder of the Laws on Gin [Note. A spirituous liquor, the exorbitant use of which had almost destroyed the lowest rank of the People till it was restrained by an act of Parliament in 1736]. 1839 Carlyle Chartism iv. 132 Gin..liquid Madness sold at ten-pence the quartern. 1862 Sir B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. II. iii. 95 It is under the influence of gin and brandy, much more than of beer or wine, that bodily diseases arise. 1875 Buckland Log-bk. 85 She was full length, in water as clear as gin. |
b. A drink or glass of gin.
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 236 A small gin, sir. 1938 C. Morgan Flashing Stream i. i. 54 Time for a gin before they come. 1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock i. i. 5 He only felt his loneliness after his third gin. Ibid. iii. i. 98 I'll have a gin. |
c. ellipt. Gin rummy.
colloq.| 1956 E. Ambler Night-Comers viii. 175, I was able to persuade her to..begin another game of gin. 1959 M. Dolinsky There is no Silence i. 5, I was trying to salvage an incredible gin hand. |
2. a. attrib. and
Comb., as
gin-bottle,
gin-case,
gin-drinker,
gin-riot,
gin-sutler;
gin-drinking vbl. n. and
ppl. a.;
gin-smuggling vbl. n.;
gin-bright,
gin-clear,
gin-sodden,
gin-ward adjs.; and in the names of drinks, as
gin-and-bitters,
gin-and-orange,
gin-and-tansy,
gin-and-tonic,
gin-and-water (also
attrib.),
gin-and-wormwood,
gin-cocktail,
gin-fizz,
gin-grog,
gin-punch,
gin-straight,
gin-toddy,
gin-twist; also
gin-and-French (see
French B. 3).
| a 1833 J. T. Smith Bk. for Rainy Day (1845) 168 She had taken her morning dose of *gin and bitters. 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz (1836) 2nd Ser. 148 A couple of ladies.., having imbibed the contents of various ‘three-outs’ of gin and bitters. 1872 Ruskin Fors Clav. xiv. 18 If they had been bad old women they would have wanted gin and bitters for breakfast. |
| 1950 J. Cannan Murder Included i. 5 He himself took a sip of *gin-and-orange. |
| 1865 ‘Artemus Ward’ Interview w. Pr. Napoleon, Did he perfoom her bedroom at a onseasonable hour with *gin and tanzy? 1880 Barman's Man. 56 [Recipe for making] Gin and Tansy. |
| 1935 S. Box in Best One-Act Plays of 1935 56 Waiter! That will be two whiskies, and a *gin and tonic. 1949 J. B. Priestley Delight 29 Just gin and tonic and some potato crisps. |
| 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxxvii, Mr. Bumble..drank his *gin-and-water in silence. 1874 Jefferies Toilers of Field (1892) 28 Some towns have only what is called a ‘gin-and-water’ market; that is, the ‘deal’ is begun and concluded..at a inn over a glass of spirits and water. 1894 J. Dale Round the World x. 169 He had a full-moon sort of face, with a gin-and-water nose and cod-fish eyes. |
| 1880 Barman's Man. 53 [Recipe for] *Gin and Wormwood. |
| 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 102 Our drover could never resist the seduction of the *gin-bottle. |
| 1893 Westm. Gaz. 3 June 7/1 The Thames is ‘*gin-bright’, and many of the fish are in a very sickly condition. |
| 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 474 An empty *gin-case. |
| 1894 Daily News 15 Oct. 3/5 The Suffolk Stour is ‘*gin-clear’, and fish are off the feed there. |
| 1852 Hawthorne Blithedale Rom. xxi. (1883) 520 He..being famous for nothing but *gin-cocktails. |
| 1755 Man No. 13 ¶8 She proving a vixen, a gilt, and a *gin-drinker. |
| 1839 Carlyle Chartism ii. 117 The labourer's..unrest, recklessness, *gin-drinking. |
| 1859 Ld. Lytton Wanderer (ed. 2) 292 That *gin-drinking hag. |
| 1891 Month LXXII. 17 You take your luncheon-snack..or ‘*gin-fiz’. |
| 1823 Blackw. Mag. XIV. 514 The fumes of last night's *gin-grog. |
| 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. ix, Flashman had been regaling himself on *gin-punch. |
| 1839 Carlyle Chartism iv. 132 A murky-simmering Tophet, of copperas-fumes, cotton-fuz, *gin-riot, wrath and toil. |
| 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 278 The prevention of *gin smuggling. |
| 1886 J. K. Jerome Idle Thoughts (1889) 83 That dull-eyed *gin-sodden lout. |
| 1880 Barman's Man. 57 [Recipe for] *Gin Straight. |
| 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 218 A brawny *gin-suttler. |
| 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. i. Execution 72 My Lord Tomnoddy is drinking *gin-toddy. |
| 1826 J. Wilson in Blackw. Mag. XIX. 395/2 Truth should be like *gin-twist, half and half. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis xxxix, The gin-twist and devilled turkey had no charms for him. |
| 1829 Edin. Rev. XLIX. 381 With characteristic sagacity, the legislators, justices, and parsons of the land join together..to augment the *ginward bias. |
b. Special comb.:
† gin-act, the act of 1736 which, by an increased duty, restrained the sale of gin (
cf. 1,
quot. 1738);
gin and fog colloq., a hoarse or broken-down voice; also
attrib.;
gin and it (or
It), gin and Italian vermouth;
gin-and-Jag(uar),
colloq. phr. used
attrib. to denote upper-middle-class people or areas;
gin-berry, a juniper-berry;
gin-crawl (see
crawl n.1 1 b);
gin-door (
nonce-wd.), the entrance to a gin-palace;
gin-drinker's liver, ‘a term applied to atrophic cirrhosis of the liver, from its frequent cause’ (
Syd. Soc. Lex. 1885);
gin-house = gin-shop;
gin-liver = gin-drinker's liver;
gin-mill U.S., a drinking saloon (hence
gin-miller);
gin rummy orig. U.S., ‘a form of rummy in which a player who has cards that count no more than ten may {oqq}knock{cqq} in an effort to win the number of points by which his opponent's unmatched cards exceed his own’ (
D.A.);
gin-soaked a., soaked in gin; given to drinking large quantities of gin;
gin-spinner, (
a) a distiller; (
b) a dealer in spirituous liquors;
gin-trap slang, the mouth. Also
gin-palace,
gin-shop,
gin-sling.
| 1752 Fielding Covent-Garden Jrnl. No. 49. 1 Of this it is easy to give many instances, particularly in the case of the *gin-act some years ago. 1777 in Chesterfield's Misc. Wks. I. 242 Lord Chesterfield's first speech on the Gin act, February 21, 1743. |
| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 18 May 7/1, I am badly bored by the man who, having an inclination to murder somebody, walks up and down the stage dissecting his inclination in what is known, I believe, as a ‘*gin and fog’ voice. 1947 C. Witting Let X be Murderer xiii. 133 His voice was of the hoarse variety known as gin-and-fog. |
| 1932 B. Worsley-Gough Public Affaires xiv. 257 As I was sipping my *gin-and-it before lunch. 1933 Punch 15 Mar. 289/1 Soothed by many a gin and It. 1960 K. Amis Take Girl like You xix. 229 Her lighter and chocolates and gin-and-its with two cherries on sticks. |
| 1969 Sunday Tel. 16 Mar. 3/3 (headline) The ‘*gin and Jag’ rebels. Ibid., The working-class boy is a dedicated and motivated student. It is students from the gin-and-Jaguar belt who often lack any sense of what a university is for. |
| 1839 Z. Leonard Adv. (1904) 170 On the South side, where grows a kind of Juniper or Gin shrub, bearing a berry tasting similar to gin. Here we passed the night without any thing to eat except these *gin berries. 1960 Spectator 18 Nov. 795/3 People..will turn and rend you..if you say you've put a couple of juniper berries in the sauce for the pork chops. Why can't we change juniper..to gin-berry? |
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 191 The *gin-door's oath, that hollowly chinks Guilt upon grief. |
| 1845 Budd Dis. Liver 116 These forms of disease are..most frequent..among the poorer classes, many of whom spend great part of their earnings in gin; and for this reason the granular and the hob-nail liver..has been familiarly termed by English practitioners, the *gin-drinkers' liver. |
| 1848 J. H. Newman Let. (1962) XII. 301 The owner of the *Gin House has put off till Monday next to decide whether he will accept {pstlg}90. |
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 357 note, In what is termed the *gin-liver white lines are seen traversing it. |
| 1872 Belgravia Dec. 251 He..then goes off to rejoin his comrades, to adjourn to the nearest ‘*gin-mill’ where a drink can be had on the sly. |
| 1888 Voice (N.Y.) 9 Aug., A social organization named after that *gin-miller and Republican ‘boss’. |
| 1941 W. S. Maugham in Writer's Notebook (1949) 317 After a good dinner..she suggests a game of *gin-rummy. 1942 O. Nash Good Intentions 49, I love you more than gin rummy is a bore. 1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate vii. 253 She found her playing gin rummy with Ruth Gardnor. |
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue, *Gin spinner, a distiller. 1813 European Mag. Jan. 69 The distillers, alias Gin Spinners, have..advanced the price of gin. 1827 Egan Anecd. of Turf 179 Just as she was about to toddle to the gin-spinner's for the ould folks, and lisp out for a quartern of max. 1862 Sala Accepted Addr. 186 A strong team of gin-spinners' horses..led by distillers' draymen. |
| 1899 Daily News 15 Apr. 2/1 Lurid accounts of *gin-soaked Africa. 1908 Daily Chron. 20 Aug. 4/4 The gin-soaked grandmother. |
| 1827 Egan Anecd. of Turf 67 Never again could..he feel his ivories loose within his *gin-trap. |
▪ III. gin, n.3 Australian.
(
dʒɪn)
Also
ginn,
jin.
[Native word.] A female Australian aboriginal; a native woman or wife.
| [1798 D. Collins Acc. N.S. Wales 612 Din, a woman.] 1827 P. Cunningham N.S. Wales II. 16 He once looked into one of their gins' (wives') bags, and found [etc.]. 1831 Tyerman & Bennet Voy. & Trav. II. xxxvii. 166 They [New Holland aborigines] answered..‘We are poor men; we have no jins’. 1863 Beveridge Gatherings 65 The camp where lay last night the youthful Gin. 1885 Mrs. C. Praed Head Station 21 The gins, or elder women..lay basking in the sun. |
b. transf. A female kangaroo.
| 1833 Breton Excurs. N.S. Wales 254 The flying gin (gin is the native word for woman or female) is a boomah, and will leave behind every description of dog. |
▪ IV. † gin, n.4 Obs. Also
ginn,
jinn.
[Appellative use of Ginn, a female name (Shakes. Com. Err. iii. i. 31), prob. = Jenn, Jenny.] 1. A female ferret (
cf. gill).
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 136/1 A Ferret, the Hob the Male, Ginn, or Jinn, the female. |
2. a gin of all trades, the female equivalent of
Jack of all trades.
| 1705 Vanbrugh Confed. i. iii, Dick. Who is this good Woman? Flip. A Gin of all Trades; an old daggling Cheat. |
▪ V. † gin, v.1 Obs. exc. arch. (
gɪn)
Forms: 4, 6–7
gin, 4–6
ginn(e,
gynne, (4
gyn).
pa. tense sing. 3
gann, 3, 5
gane, 4–7 (9
arch.)
gan, (4
gen), 5–6
ganne;
pl. 2
gunnen, 3–6
gan, (4
gane), 3–4
gonne, 4
gonnen, 3–5
gun, 3–4
gunne, (5
gun), 4–5
gon.
pa. pple. 3
gunnen, 4
gonnen.
[Aphetic form of begin (in early instances perh. rather of ongin); in ME. chiefly used in the pa. tense gan, also in the form can v.2 In modern archaistic use sometimes written 'gin.] 1. intr. To begin, followed by inf. active, with or without
to; rarely
for to. In
ME. poetry the
pa.t.
gan was commonly used in a weakened sense, as a mere auxiliary (
= the modern
did) serving to form a periphrastic preterite; the altered form
can v.
2 became, however, more frequent in this use.
| a 1200 Moral Ode 272 Þo þe..gunnen here gultes beter and betere lif leden. c 1200 Ormin 3274 He gann þennkenn off himm sellf. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7653 Þer hii gonne abide. a 1300 Cursor M. 12129 (Gött.) ‘O ho!’ alle þan gan þai cri. 13.. K. Alis. 2540 Feole ascapith and gen to fleon. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 1329 That so loude and sore ginneth wepe. c 1330 Amis & Amil. 1161 To bed thai gun go. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 203 Þe belles of þe citee gonne to rynge by hem self. c 1430 Hymns Virg. 56 Seynt iohun Þat..for ihesus loue to deeþ gan goon. c 1460 Play Sacram. 502 In woodnesse I gynne to wake. a 1529 Skelton Ware Hauke 119 This fauconer gan showte. 1575 Churchyard Chippes (1817) 91 Like as the bore, his brissels ginnes to shake When hee is chafte. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 271 b, This troublesome tempest, which ganne spread itselfe abroad in every coast. 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. E vij b, Thus ill at worst doth alway gin to mend. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. ii. iii. 23 The Larke at Heauens gate sings And Phœbus gins arise. 1791 Cowper Retired Cat 92 He 'gan in haste the drawers explore. 1883 R. W. Dixon Mano i. xiv. 13 Forth from that evil house gin they proceed. |
b. followed by inf. passive.
rare.
| 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Mar. 10 The grasse nowe ginnes to be refresht. |
2. absol. To begin, commence; to have or make a beginning. Also
to gin at.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 77 Þe flode bigan to gynne, & klosed it [the island] aboute. 1382 Wyclif Eccl. Prol., Heere gynneth the prologe in the boc of Ecclesiastes. Ibid. i. heading, Heer gynneth the booc. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas Prol. (1544) 20 He..Ginneth at Adam and endeth at King Iohn. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon ii. 159 You shall to Henley to cheer up your guests 'Fore supper gin. 1839 Bailey Festus x. (1848) 105 Earth's tale is told in Heaven, Heaven's told in earth. Since either gan one only faith hath been, The faith in God of all. |
b. To begin speaking, to speak.
rare—1.
| 13.. K. Alis. 3006 Tofore heom alle thus he gan. |
3. trans. To begin (something).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 7792 (Gött.) Dauid had gunen a batayl kene. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 167 Þe grete lordes Inglis, þat þe werre had gonnen. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1929 Now listenes, lef lordes þis lessoun þus i ginne. c 1400 Cato's Mor. 167 in Cursor M. App. iv. 1671 For wisest and mast of maine, ginin childis witte a-gaine, quen þai ar vn⁓welde. 1591 Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 19, I am bold to make myselfe your Nephew..And with this Prouerb gin the world anew, Help hands, I haue no lands, Honor is my desire. 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. ii. 25 Whence the Sunne gins his reflection. |
▪ VI. gin, v.2 (
dʒɪn)
[f. gin n.1; cf. engine v.] 1. trans. To catch in a gin or trap, to ensnare.
| a 1625 Fletcher Nice Valour iii. iii, So, so, the Wood⁓cock's gin'd; Keep this doore fast, brother. 1781 P. Beckford Hunting (1802) 340, I would not gin him though—too good a sportsman for that. 1833 Carlyle Cagliostro in Misc. Ess. (1888) V. 123 Destiny has her nets round him..too soon he will be ginned. 1868 G. Duff Pol. Surv. 221 Men are stationed with lassos to gin you dexterously. |
2. To remove the seeds of (cotton) with a gin.
| 1789 Trans. Soc. Arts I. 256 It is the easiest of all Cotton to gin. 1863 F. C. Brown Supply Cotton fr. India 10 The latest home-improved gins for ginning cotton. 1879 Sir G. Campbell White & Black 157 Northern dealers gin and buy their [negroes'] cotton. |
b. U.S. slang. to gin her up: to work things up, to make things ‘hum’, to work hard.
| 1887 F. Francis Jr. Saddle & Mocassin vii. 124 The Apaches were out to beat hell..And they were ginning her up, and making things a bit lively, that's a fact! |
Hence
ginned ppl. a. (sense 2),
ˈginning vbl. n. (sense 1). See also
ginning vbl. n.2| 1825 Sporting Mag. XVII. 28 The art of snaring and ‘ginning’ as it is called. 1883 Daily News 11 Oct. 2/7 ‘Good’ machine ginned Broach is raised 1–16d. per lb. |
▪ VII. gin, v.3 colloq. (
dʒɪn)
[f. gin n.2] intr. To drink gin or other intoxicating liquor; to become drunk;
usu. with
up. Hence
ˈginned (up) a., intoxicated.
| 1894 Midwinter Appeal (San Francisco) 17 Feb. 4/5 As for jags, he held that he can gin up when he likes. 1900 W. F. Drannan 31 Yrs. on Plains 121 This man Shewman got pretty well ginned up. 1905 H. A. Vachell Hill iii. 53 They're pretty well ginned-up, I can tell you. 1924 T. P.'s & Cassell's Weekly 6 Sept. 631/1 He danced with a good many girls who had whisky breaths. One girl clung to him..and whispered, ‘Hold me up, kid; I'm ginned.’ 1964 P. M. Hubbard Picture of Millie x. 103 He always drinks a good deal... I have seen him more or less ginned-up. |
▪ VIII. gin, prep. Sc. (
gɪn)
[= gain prep. 3, with vowel-shortening due to want of stress.] Against or by (a certain time).
| ? 17.. Sweet William xi. in Motherwell Minstrelsy (1827) 309 And gin the morn gin twelve o'clock, Your love shall married be. a 1765 Chield Morice xxxiv. in Child Ballads iv. lxxxiii. (1886) 271/2 This lady she died gin ten o'clock, Lord Barnard died gin twall. 1768 Ross Helenore (1789) 88 Gin night we came unto a gentle place. 1788 E. Picken Poems 176 The lines, that ye sent owre the lawn..Gin gloamin hours reek't Eben's haun. |
▪ IX. gin, conj. Sc. and
dial. (
gɪn)
[Of obscure origin; app. in some way related to gif. One supposition is that
gif was apprehended as identical with the imperative of
give, and that
gin = given was substituted for it. The
pa. pple. given, used in the absolute construction, comes very close in sense to the hypothetical
conj., so that this view is plausible, though lacking confirmation. Some think that the
conj. originated from
gin prep.]
If; whether.
| 1674 Ray N.C. Words 21 Gin, gif: In the old Saxon is Gif, from whence the word If is made. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 23 Fast to the door I rin To see gin ony young spark Will light and venture but in. 1794 Burns Collier Laddie iii, Ye shall gang in gay attire..Gin ye'll leave your Collier Laddie. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xliv, Follow me, gin ye please, sir, but tak tent to your feet. 1842 J. D. Phelps Collect. Gloucestr. (Glouc. Gloss.), Gin, if. 1864 Tennyson North. Farmer (O.S.) xvii, An' gin I mun doy I mun doy. 1865 G. Macdonald A. Forbes 9 Gin the warst cam' to the warst. 1878 Cumbld. Gloss., Gin ye'll gan I'll gan. |
▪ X. gin var. ging,
Obs.