| 1. | impudence; effrontery. |
| 2. | bile, esp. that of an animal. |
| 3. | something bitter or severe. |
| 4. | bitterness of spirit; rancor. |
| 5. | gall and wormwood, bitterness of spirit; deep resentment. |
gall, bile
| 1. | to make sore by rubbing; chafe severely: The saddle galled the horse's back. |
| 2. | to vex or irritate greatly: His arrogant manner galls me. |
| 3. | to be or become chafed. |
| 4. | Machinery. (of either of two engaging metal parts) to lose metal to the other because of heat or molecular attraction resulting from friction. |
| 5. | Metallurgy. (of a die or compact in powder metallurgy) to lose surface material through adhesion to the die. |
| 6. | a sore on the skin, esp. of a horse, due to rubbing; excoriation. |
| 7. | something very vexing or irritating. |
| 8. | a state of vexation or irritation. |

gall 1 (gôl) n.
[Middle English, from Old English gealla, galla; see ghel-2 in Indo-European roots.] |
gall 2 (gôl) n.
v. tr.
To become irritated, chafed, or sore. [Middle English galle, from Old English gealla, possibly from Latin galla, nutgall.] |
gall 1 (gôl)
n.
See bile.
gall 2 (gôl)
n.
A skin sore caused by friction and abrasion. v. galled, gall·ing, galls
To become irritated, chafed, or sore.
| gall (gôl) Pronunciation Key
An abnormal swelling of plant tissue, caused by injury or by parasitic organisms such as insects, mites, nematodes, and bacteria. Parasites stimulate the production of galls by secreting chemical irritants on or in the plant tissue. Galls stimulated by egg-laying parasites typically provide a protective environment in which the eggs can hatch and the pupae develop, and they usually do only minor damage to the host plant. Gall-stimulating fungi and microorganisms, such as the bacterium that causes crown gall, are generally considered to be plant diseases. |
Gall
(1) Heb. mererah, meaning "bitterness" (Job 16:13); i.e., the bile secreted in the liver. This word is also used of the poison of asps (20:14), and of the vitals, the seat of life (25). (2.) Heb. rosh. In Deut. 32:33 and Job 20:16 it denotes the poison of serpents. In Hos. 10:4 the Hebrew word is rendered "hemlock." The original probably denotes some bitter, poisonous plant, most probably the poppy, which grows up quickly, and is therefore coupled with wormwood (Deut. 29:18; Jer. 9:15; Lam. 3:19). Comp. Jer. 8:14; 23:15, "water of gall," Gesenius, "poppy juice;" others, "water of hemlock," "bitter water." (3.) Gr. chole (Matt. 27:34), the LXX. translation of the Hebrew _rosh_ in Ps. 69; 21, which foretells our Lord's sufferings. The drink offered to our Lord was vinegar (made of light wine rendered acid, the common drink of Roman soldiers) "mingled with gall," or, according to Mark (15:23), "mingled with myrrh;" both expressions meaning the same thing, namely, that the vinegar was made bitter by the infusion of wormwood or some other bitter substance, usually given, according to a merciful custom, as an anodyne to those who were crucified, to render them insensible to pain. Our Lord, knowing this, refuses to drink it. He would take nothing to cloud his faculties or blunt the pain of dying. He chooses to suffer every element of woe in the bitter cup of agony given him by the Father (John 18:11).
Gall
Hunkpapa Sioux war chief, who was one of the most important military leaders at the Battle of the Little Bighorn (June 25, 1876).
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