▪ I. gad, n.1
(gæd)
Forms: 4–7 gadd, 5–6 gadde, 8–9 Sc. gaud, gawd, 4– gad.
[a. ON. gadd-r spike, nail = OHG. and MHG. gart, Goth. gazd-s:—OTeut. *gazdo-z (cf. L. hasta). From the OTeut. deriv. *gazdjâ comes OHG. gerta (G. gerte), OE. ᵹęrd, ᵹierd, ᵹyrd: see yard. The original sense is probably that of ‘spike’ (as in Goth. and ON.), but the name is also given to the handle or shaft to which this is fixed (as in L. hasta); hence the meaning ‘rod’. The development of the word in Eng. has also been influenced by its similarity, both in form and in meaning, to OE. gád goad, with which it is not originally connected. The forms are not always easy to separate.]
1. A sharp spike of metal. Obs. exc. Hist.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1945 Let þurhdriuen þrefter þe spaken & te felien mid irnene gadien. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3621 Gryme gaddes of stele, ghywes of iryne. 1563 Golding Cæsar vii. 225 b, Stakes of a fote long stickt full of Iron hokes, and theis thei called gaddes [L. stimulos]. 1600 F. Walker Sp. Mandeville 145 b, A light Armour..full of short sharpe gaddes or Bodkins. 1834 [see gadling1]. 1868 Cussans Her. vii. 104 It [the caltrap] was formed of four short but strong spikes, or Gads. |
† b. Applied to a stylus. Obs.
| 1570 Foxe tr. Prudentius' Death Cassianus in A. & M. (ed. 2) 129/1 These gads were but their pens wherewyth Theyr tables wrytten were. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iv. i. 103, I will goe get a leafe of brasse, And with a Gad of steele will write these words. |
c. = gadling1. (Cf. gad v.1 a.)
| 1830 Meyrick Illustr. Anct. Arms & Armour Plate lxxix, Fig. 2 A long gauntlet of the time of Elizabeth. In this specimen the gads lap over upwards. |
2. A bar of metal, esp. of iron or steel; also, an ingot. ? Obs. In Her., ‘a rectangular plate of steel, borne in the Arms of the Ironmongers' Company’ (Cussans).
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3185 On an gold gad ðe name god Is grauen. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 199 Slegges and hameres, wiþ þe whiche smythes smyteþ and tempreþ grete gaddes of iren. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas ix. xxxi. (1554) 210 b, Theodorus..On his body layde gaddes read brenning. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. xii. 50 Slang gaddis of irne, and stane kast gret plente. 1581 W. Stafford Exam. Compl. ii. (1876) 60 Then I had as liefe haue smal gadds or plats of Siluer and Gold, without any coyne at al. 1587 Mirr. Mag., Wolsey lvii, To fawning doggs some times I gaue a bone, And flong some scrapps to such as nothing had; But in my hands, still kept the golden gad, That seru'd my turne. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 374 They cut it [steel] into narrower barrs about half an inch over, and then break it into short pieces of an inch, or two inches long, call'd Gadds. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 58 Flemish-steel is made..some in Bars and some in Gads. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece i. i. 69 Quenching..in this Liquor a Gad of Steel, about eight or ten Inches long. 1814 Scott Wav. xxx, ‘Deil be in me but I put this het gad down her throat.’ 1826 Ann. Reg. Chron. 29/2 The gaud or iron bar and the ring to which he was fastened. [Cf. gaid.] 1895 Crockett Men of Mosshags 377 After levelling a file [of soldiers] with his gaud of iron. |
b. Mining. A pointed tool of iron or steel (see quot. 1881).
| 1671 Phil. Trans. VI. 2104 The Instruments commonly used in Mines..are..Gadds, or Wedges of 2l. weight, 4 square, well steeled at the point. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Gad, in mining..is a small punch of iron with a long handle of wood. 1800 M. Edgeworth Lame Jervas i. (1832) 6 A pickaxe and a gad were put into my hands. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Gad, 1. a steel wedge, 2. a small iron punch with a wooden handle used to break up ore. |
3. A spear. Obs. exc. Hist.
| 1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. in Arb. Garner III. 85 Four or five of this Captain's prickers with their gads ready charged. Ibid. 133 The Scottish prickers, within less than their gad's length asunder. a 1555 Ridley in Cert. godly Conf. (1556) 33 b, I haue knowen my contreiemen watche nighte and daie in their harnesse..and their speares in their hands (you call them northen gads). 1820 Scott Monast. xiv, I took a young Southern fellow out of saddle with my lance, and cast him, it might be, a gad's length from his nag. |
4. A pointed rod or stick used for driving oxen; a goad; also dial. (see quots. 1796 and 1855).
| c 1300 Havelok 279 Al Engelond was of him adrad So his þe beste fro þe gad. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xiv. (1495) 774 An oxe herde yockyth the oxen..and pricketh the slowe with a gad and makyth them drawe euen. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 15 Than brought our Lorde to them the carte & harowe, The gad & the whyp. 1535 Coverdale Judg. iii. 31 Samgar..which slewe sixe hundreth Philistynes with an oxes gadd. 1607 N. Riding Rec. (1883) I. 78 Tho. Hildreth presented for that armed with gaddes he had assaulted John Pearson. 1796 W. Marshall Yorksh. (ed. 2) II. 321 Gad, a supple, tapering rod, six or seven feet long, with a leathern thong, about three feet long, fastened to the weaker end. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Gad, a tapering rod ended with a leather thong as a whip for driving a team of horses or oxen. 1863 J. L. W. By-gone Days 10 The long gad or goad with which he impelled the horses or oxen. |
† b. Phrase. upon the gad: as if pricked with a gad; suddenly. (Cf. upon the spur of the moment.) Obs.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear i. ii. 26 All this done Vpon the gad? |
5. dial. A rod or wand, esp. a fishing-rod. Also, a stake or stout stick.
| 1535 Fisher Wks. (1876) 395 And hys blessed heade so Crowned, they dyd beate it downe with a gadde, or a harde Reede. 1552 Huloet, Angling gad, or rodde, pertica. 1796 W. Marshall Yorksh. (ed. 2) Gloss. s.v. (E.D.S.), A fishing-rod is in like manner called a ‘fishing-gad’. 1829 T. Doubleday Fisher's Call in Anniversary 64 Then up an' rig your gads, And to it, fishers, to it! 1847 Foster in Whistle-Binkie (Scot. Songs) Ser. ii. (1890) 230 The lang sma' taper gad is swung Around wi easy slight. 1863 Barnes Dorset Gloss., Gad, a hedge stake, or stout stick. 1887 T. Hardy Woodlanders iii, An armful of gads thrown on the still hot embers caused them to blaze up cheerfully. |
6. A measuring rod for land; hence, a measure of length differing in various districts. Cf. goad n.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 184/1 Gad, to mete wythe londe (P. gadde, or rodde), decempeda. 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 173 In dyuers odur placis in this lande they mete ground by pollis gaddis and roddis some be of xviij. foote some of xx fote and som xvi fote in lengith. 1599 Skene De Verb. Sign. s.v. Particata, Ane rod is ane staffe, or gade of tymmer, quhairwith land is measured. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Gad, or Geometrical Pearch, a Measure of Ten Foot, and in some places but Nine Foot. |
b. A division of an open pasture, in Lincolnshire usually 6½ feet wide; = swath.
| 1593 Kirton-in-Lindsey Court Roll (N.W. Linc. Gloss.). 1717 N. Riding Rec. VII. 285, I am seized of..four gads in the Bishop Ings. 1794 Act Inclos. S. Kelsey 19 Owners and Proprietors of Gads in a certain Piece of Ground..each Gad being Two Roods, Two Perches and a Half. |
7. Comb.: gad-bit (see quot.); gad-cracking (see gad-whip 1889); gad-crook, -hook, -meadow (see quots.); gad-nail (see quot. 1841); gad-sledge Mining, a sledge hammer for driving gads; † gad-staff = gad n.1 4; † gad-steel (see quot. 1703); gad-stick = gad n.1 4; † gad-wand = gad n.1 4, 6; gad-whip, a heavy cart-whip. Also gad-bee, gad-breeze, gad-fly, gad-man.
| 1847–78 Halliwell, *Gad-bit, a nail-passer. |
| 1841 Hampson Medii ævi Kalend. I. 182 At Hundon, in Lincolnshire, there is still annually practised on this day [Palm Sunday] a remarkable custom, called *Gad Cracking. |
| 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., *Gad-crook, a long pole with an iron hook or claw. |
| 1847–78 Halliwell, *Gad-hook, a long pole with an iron hook attached to it. Somerset. |
| 1787 Surv. Manor Kirton-in-Lindsey in N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., All the lands in the Ings are laid out in gads or swaths; they are called *gad-meadows. |
| 1375–6 Abingdon Acc. (Camden) 28 Item in clauis, *gadnayl et bordnayl..ij s. ij d. 1841 Hartshorne Salop. Antiqua Gloss., Gadnail, a long and stout nail used chiefly in fastening posts and rails. |
| 1874 J. H. Collins Metal Mining 61 These boring sledges are sometimes used for driving wedges or ‘gads’..Sometimes a special ‘*gad-sledge’ is provided for the purpose. |
| 15.. Wyf of Auchtirmuchty 46 (Laing), Scho lowsit oxin aucht or nyne, And hynt ane *gad⁓staff in hir hand. |
| a 1618 Rates Merchandize L ij a, Steele, vocat. *Gad-steele the halfe barrell. 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 270 Good Steele in barres, and also Gad Steele. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 58 Flemish-steel is made..some in Bars and some in Gads, and is therefore by us call'd Flemish-steel, and sometimes Gad-steel. |
| 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 232 He than lete the *gad wand fall. 1513 Douglas æneis ix. x. 47 And passand by the plewis, for gad wandis, Broddis the oxin wyth speris in our handis. 1570 Levins Manip. 23/7 A Gadwande, partica. |
| 1827 G. P. J. in Hone Every-day Bk. II. 394 A very large ox-whip, called here a *gad-whip. [Speaking of the Broughton tenure: see next quot.] 1842 White Hist. Lincolnsh. 570 On Palm Sunday, a person from Broughton brings [into Caistor Church porch] a large whip, called a gad whip, the stock of which is made of wood, tapered towards the top; the thong is large, and made of white leather. [He cracked the whip three times, this being the service by which the land at Broughton was held.] |
▪ II. gad, n.2
(gæd)
Short for ‘gad-fly’ (Halliwell 1847–78); also in comb. gad-stricken adj.
| 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 937 Those famous Poets of old were said to be Oestro perciti, stung with this furious Fly called Oestrum. Plutarch cals them Gad⁓stricken. |
▪ III. gad, n.3
(gæd)
[f. gad v.2]
The action of gadding or rambling about. Only in phrase on, upon the gad: on the move, going about.
| c 1815 Jane Austen Persuasion (1833) I. vi. 252 Mrs. Charles's nursery-maid..is always upon the gad. 1863 Mrs. Gaskell Sylvia's L. II. 204 Thou might have a bit o' news to tell one after being on the gad all the afternoon. |
▪ IV. gad, n.4 Anglo-Irish and Mil.
(gæd)
[a. Ir. and Gael. gad.]
A band or rope made of twisted fibres of tough twigs.
| 1728 Songs Costume (Percy Soc.) 216 Or if you'd be reckon'd tight Irish lads, Throw off your cravats and bands, and tie on your gads, And then you'll resemble your primitive dads. 1834 Brit. Husb. I. 175 They are generally harnessed with ropes, and collars of straw, or gads. 1841 S. C. Hall Ireland II. 22 [They] at once twisted a gad round his neck and hung him from the next tree. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 254 The gads are made of rods 5 feet long, first twisted until the fibres separate. |
▪ V. gad, v.1
(gæd)
[f. gad n.1]
a. trans. To furnish with gads or a gad. b. intr., Mining, To use a gad; trans. to break up (rock) by means of a gad. (Cf. gadder1, gadding vbl. n.1) c. trans. To fasten with a gad-nail. Hence ˈgadded ppl. a.
| 18.. J. R. Planché (Cent.), The gauntlets..are richly ornamented on the knuckles, but not gadded. 1841 Hartshorne Salop. Antiqua Gloss., Gad, to affix, fasten. Ex. ‘Gad it to’, chiefly with reference to iron-work. |
▪ VI. gad, v.2
(gæd)
[Of obscure origin. The common view, that it is f. gad n.2 (the supposed primary sense being ‘to rush about like an animal stung by gad-flies’) is possible, but does not appear to be favoured by our quots.; the few passages which in any degree countenance it are collected under 1 b. Possibly it was a back-formation from gadling in its later sense of ‘vagabond’.]
1. intr. To go from one place to another, to wander; esp. to wander about with no serious object, stopping here and there, to rove idly. Also to gad about, abroad, out.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. (E.E.T.S.) ii. 149, I hold the mad! wenys thou now that I list gad To gif away my warldis aght? 1529 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1241/2 To..hold hymself content with that place, & longe not to be gadding out any where elles. 1554 Martin Marr. Priests xii. Dd iiij b, Whyle the virgins..will nedes..gooe raunginge and gaddinge abrode. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 264 Such, as..gadded to Sainct Thomas for helpe and devotion. 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 373 He was alwayes gadding up and downe the world, and had little rest. 1710 Philips Pastorals i. 52 She gads where-e'er her roving Fancy leads. a 1732 T. Boston Crook in Lot (1805) 15 Gadding abroad to satisfy her youthful curiosity. c 1815 Jane Austen Persuasion (1833) I. i. 252 Her upper house-maid and laundry maid are gadding about the village all day long. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. i. xxi. 114 There's Betsy..gadding out somewhere ever since she came home. 1880 Webb Goethe's Faust ii. vi. 157 'Twould injure me with folks, where'er I gadded. |
† b. Rarely used for: To rush madly about. (In Dryden said of cattle, with distinct etymological reference to gad n.2) Obs.
| 1552 Elyot, Bacchor..to renne, gadde, and rage as it were a mad man. 1561 Stow Eng. Chron. (1580) 39 Women gadding vp & down frantickly in mourning weedes, their haire hanging about their eares, & shaking firebrands. 1678 Dryden & Lee Œdipus i. Wks. 1883 VI. 141 You shall see them toss their tails, and gad, As if the breeze had stung them. 1688 J. Clayton in Phil. Trans. XVII. 793 The most of the Cattle will set on gadding, and run..to the River to drink the Salt Water. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 240 Their Stings draw Blood; And drive the Cattle gadding thro' the Wood. |
2. fig. To go wandering, in desire or thought; to leave the true path. Now rare.
| 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 4/2 When she gaddeth not astray from the simplicitie of the Gospel. 1600 Heywood 1st Pt. Edw. IV Wks. 1874 I. 61 Yet, idle eye, wilt thou be gadding still? 1641 Milton Prel. Episc. 6 While we leave the Bible to gadde after these traditions. a 1688 Cudworth Immut. Mor. (1731) 98 Sense wholly gazes and gads abroad. 1692 Locke Educ. §167 'Tis no wonder their Thoughts should..seek better Entertainment in more pleasing Objects, after which they will unavoidably be gadding. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. i. iii. 32 If I once regardless gadded For the world my hopes are vain. |
† 3. Of inanimate objects: To move about. Obs.
| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 72 Thee roads, thee countrey, thee towns fro oure nauye be gadding. 1600 Fairfax Tasso xvii. xxi, Th' Arabians next that haue no certaine stay, No house, no home..But euer..From place to place their wandring cities gad. 1618 Bolton Florus iv. i. 260 The frenzie had gadded over the Alpes. |
4. Of a plant, tree, etc.: To spread hither and thither, to straggle in growth. arch.
| 1637 [see gadding ppl. a.]. 1675 Evelyn Terra (1729) 35 Keep the roots from gadding too far from the Stem. 1752 Mason Elfrida 212 The ivy gadding from th' untwisted stem, Curtains each verdant side. 1820 Wordsw. Fort Fuentes, Now gads the wild vine o'er the pathless ascent. |
† 5. quasi-trans. with cognate object. Obs.
| 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 38 They gadde many a weerysome journey on pilgrimage unto them. |
b. slang. (See quot.)
| 1846 R. L. Snowden Mag. Assist. 346 Going without shoes, gadding the hoof. 1865 in Hotten Slang Dict. (1874). |