ˈgambrel Obs. exc. dial.
Forms: 6–7 gambrell, 7 gamberel, gambril(l, gamrell, (8–9 dial. gammerel), 7– gambrel. See also cambrel, chambrel, gamble n.2
[Perh. a. OF. (Norman) *gamberel, the pl. of which occurs in a document of 1452 (Godefroy); ‘Les bouchiers d'Evreux, quant ilz passent parmi le bois dudit seigneur, peulent prendre{ddd}des gambereaulx et des verges pour prendre leurs bestes.’ This seems to agree with sense 1 of the English word, and gambier is still found in Normandy with this meaning (Littré Suppl.).
As F. gambier means also a hooked stick (see gambeer), and the Eng. cambrel is synonymous with gambrel in both its applications, a derivation from the Celtic *cambo- crooked (see cam a.) seems not unlikely; for sense 2 cf. ham n.1, which appears to be from the same root.]
1. a. (See quot. 1887); = cambrel 1.
| 1547 Salesbury Welsh Dict., Kambren kic, a gambrell. 1606 Chapman Mons. D'Olive Plays 1873 I. 228 My selfe indeed..spide two of them hang out at a stall with a gambrell thrust from shoulder to shoulder, like a Sheepe that were new flead. 1618 W. Lawson New Orch. & Garden (1626) 37 The common homely Proverbe: Soone crookes the tree that good Gamrell must bee. a 1640 Day Peregr. Schol. (1881) 44 And first a Butcher..stands up and sweares..he wold cutte his throate and hang him up by the heles of a gambrill. 1887 Kent Gloss., Gambrel or Gamblestick, a stick used to spread open and hang up a pig or other slaughtered animal. |
b. A similar piece of wood for hanging clothes upon.
| a 1652 Brome City Wit iv. i. Wks. 1873 I. 335 When she reads my poverty agen, And that these Garments must return to th' Gambrels, Her scorn will be impetuous. |
2. a. The joint in the upper part of a horse's hind leg; the hock:
= cambrel 2.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 225 Calues..whose taile reacheth to the joint of the haugh or gambrill. 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2278/4 A Coach-Horse..a Scar upon his near Gamberel. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Horse-feeder, Bathe his Legs well from the Knee and Gambrels downwards. c 1788 Howard Encycl. II. 1157/2 His hocks or gambrels neither standing too wide, nor too near together. 1880 E. Cornw. Gloss., Gambrel, the hock of the animal. |
b. dial. In human beings: The under side of the thigh just above the knee.
| c 1746 Exmoor Scolding 153 (E.D.S.) Gammerels. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., Shockin pain in my gammerel. |
3. U.S. Short for
gambrel roof.
| 1859 in Bartlett Dict. Amer. 1873 T. W. Higginson Oldport Days 45 Sometimes with the long, sloping roof of Massachusetts, oftener with the quaint ‘gambrel’ of Rhode Island. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
gambrel-joint,
gambrel sinew. Also
gambrel-roof orig. U.S., a curved or hipped roof, so called from its resemblance to the shape of a horse's hind-leg; hence
gambrel-roofed adj.| 1876 J. Burroughs Winter-Sunshine iv. 104 A fox struggling with a trap which held him by the hind leg, above the *gambrel-joint! |
| [1737 in Old-Time New Eng. (1926) July 21 One Tenement two Stories upright, with a Gambering Roof.] 1765 Massachusetts Gaz. 19 Dec. (Th.), A large building with two upright Stories and a *Gambrel Roof. 1851 S. Judd Margaret vi. 30 Here and there was a house in the then new style, three-storied, with gambrel roof and dormer windows. 1861 Mrs. Stowe Pearl Orr's Isl. 31 The afternoon sunbeams..are painting the gambrel-roof with a golden brown. |
| 1779 in Mass. Hist. Soc. 2nd Ser. II. 466 The [Indian] Queens Pallace was a *gambril ruft house. 1824 Microscope 21 Feb. (Th.), In a gambrel-roof'd house,..She dwelt with a heart void of care. 1858 Mrs. Stowe Minister's Wooing i, A small farm, with a modest, ‘gambrel-roofed,’ one-story cottage. |
| 1715 Lond. Gaz. No. 5341/4 A white spot on the *gambrel Sinew on the near Leg behind. |
Hence
ˈgambrelled pa. pple., stuck on a gambrel.
| a 1625 Fletcher Nice Valour iv. i, Ile box you..And carrie you gambril'd thither like a mutton. |