giblet
(ˈdʒɪblɪt)
Forms: 4–5 gibelet(te, (4 gyblot, 5 gebyllott, giblott, 5–6 jeblet, 7 giblit, gublett, 9 jiblet), 5–7 gyb(e)let(t, 6– giblet.
[a. OF. gibelet, app. a stew or ragout of game; cf. Walloon giblè d'awe goose-giblets (Littré), mod.F. gibelotte rabbit-stew.
The order of senses below is that of their appearance in Eng., and may possibly coincide with the order of development; the culinary sense is, however, the only one recorded in Fr., and Hatz-Darm. regard the word as cognate with gibier game.]
† 1. An unessential appendage. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 4273 A messe ys ynoghe for þe þe touþer gyblot [F. tut l'autre gybelot], late hyt be. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 403 Þey putteþ non giblettes [L. appendicia] to þe houres of Goddes service. |
2. † a. sing. Garbage, entrails.
Obs.| 14.. Metr. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 627/21 Exta, a gibelet. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 193/1 Gybelet, idem quod Garbage. |
b. pl. rarely
sing. The portions of a goose that are taken out or cut off before cooking, the liver, gizzard, etc., with the pinions and feet.
| 1539 [see hare n. 2]. 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Pepitoria, the giblets of a goose, or anie bird. 1623–4 Middleton & Rowley Sp. Gipsy ii. ii. (1653) D 3 a, It was mine own Goose, and I laid the Jiblets upon an other Coxcombs trencher. 1731 Fielding Grub St. Op. iii. iii, Take particular care of the giblets, they bear a very good price in the market. 1812 Scott Let. to Morritt 29 Nov. in Lockhart, How shall I send you the entire goose which will be too heavy to travel the same way with the giblets? a 1845 Hood Irish Schoolmaster viii, Eyes of gizzard hue, That inward giblet of a fowl. |
c. transf. with reference to a human being.
† to levy one's giblets: ? to summon up one's courage.
† to join giblets: to marry.
| 1651 Cleveland Poems 28 Pym and the Members must their giblets levy T'incounter Madam Smec. 1672 Marvell Reh. Trans. i. 130 The Entremesses shall be of a Fanaticks Giblets. 1681 Hickeringill Wks. (1716) I. 399 Oh! there's no Ho when Power makes Court'sey to Revenge, and joyns Giblets together. a 1693 Urquhart Rabelais iii. ix, Yet in that case should it go worse with me, if I did not..bethwack her Giblets [printed Gillets: orig. la petite oye], to wit, her Arms, Legs, Head, Lights, Liver and Milt, with her other Intrails. 1769 Stratford Jubilee ii. i. 29 If your ladyship's not engaged, what's the reason but we may join giblets without any pribble-prabble? 1845 Browning Flight of Duchess xvii. 20 My heart's blood..Is pumped up brisk now, through the main ventricle, And genially floats me about the giblets. |
d. fig. (
pl.) Things of little value, odds and ends. Now chiefly
dial. † Also as a term of contempt applied to a person. (
Cf. sense 1.)
| 1638 Ford Fancies iii. ii, Oh fie upon 'em giblets! 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler 26 Which are the very pettitoes of infirmity, the gyblets of perquisquilian toyes. a 1659 Cleveland Wks. (1687) 53 They fear the Giblets of his Train, they fear, Even his Dog, that four-leg'd Cavalier. 1839 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 161 The great ladies with their grace, lace, and giblets. 1887 Kent. Gloss., Giblets, rags, tatters. |
3. attrib., as
giblet-pie,
giblet-porridge,
giblet-soup.
| 1693 Dryden Persius vi. (1697) 498 Shall I my Houshold-Gods and Genius cheat, That he..When I am laid, may feed on *Giblet-Pie? a 1845 Hood Drowning Ducks xiii, A duckling turned to giblet pie! |
| 1674 Dryden in Johnson L.P. (1868) 136 It is a kind of *giblet porridge, made of the giblets of a couple of young geese. |
| 1806 Culina 262 A *Giblet Soup. 1817 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 150 In order to make me a substitute for giblet soup. |