gin definition | Dictionary.com

gin

1 [jin]

–noun

1.	an alcoholic liquor obtained by distilling grain mash with juniper berries.

2.	an alcoholic liquor similar to this, made by redistilling spirits with flavoring agents, esp. juniper berries, orange peel, angelica root, etc.

Origin:
1705–15; shortened from geneva

gin

2 [jin]

noun, verb, ginned, gin⋅ning.

–noun

1.	cotton gin.

2.	a trap or snare for game.

3.	any of various machines employing simple tackle or windlass mechanisms for hoisting.

4.	a stationary prime mover having a drive shaft rotated by horizontal beams pulled by horses walking in a circle.

–verb (used with object)

5.	to clear (cotton) of seeds with a gin.

6.	to snare (game).

Origin:
1150–1200; ME gyn, aph. var. of OF engin engine

Related forms:

ginner, noun

gin

3 [gin]

–verb (used without object), verb (used with object), gan, gun, gin⋅ning. Archaic.

to begin.

Origin:
1150–1200; ME ginnen, OE ginnan, aph. var. of onginnan, beginnen to begin

gin

4 [jin]

noun, verb, ginned, gin⋅ning. Cards.

–noun

1.	Also called gin rummy. a variety of rummy for two players, in which a player with 10 or fewer points in unmatched cards can end the game by laying down the hand.

2.	the winning of such a game by laying down a full set of matched cards, earning the winner a bonus of 20 or 25 points.

–verb (used without object)

3.	to win a game in gin by laying down a hand in which all 10 cards are included in sets.

Origin:
1955–60; perh. special use of gin ¹

gin

5 [gin]

–conjunction Chiefly Scot. and Southern Appalachian.

if; whether.

Origin:
1665–75; variously explained as sense development of gien given (see gie, -en ³ ); as contr. of gif if + an ² (cf. iffen ); or as aph. form of again

gin

6 [jin]

–noun Australian Informal.

1.	a female Aborigine.

2.	an Aboriginal wife.

Also, jin.

Origin:
1820–30; < Dharuk di-yin

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To gin

gin¹ (jĭn)

n. A strong colorless alcoholic beverage made by distilling or redistilling rye or other grain spirits and adding juniper berries or aromatics such as anise, caraway seeds, or angelica root as flavoring.

[Alteration of geneva, from Dutch jenever, from Middle Dutch geniver, juniper, from Old French geneivre, from Vulgar Latin *iiniperus, from Latin iūniperus.]
gin'ny adj.

gin² (jĭn)

Any of several machines or devices, especially:
1. A machine for hoisting or moving heavy objects.
2. A pile driver.
3. A snare or trap for game.
4. A pump operated by a windmill.
A cotton gin.

tr.v. ginned, gin·ning, gins

To remove the seeds from (cotton) with a cotton gin.
To trap in a gin.

[Middle English, from Old French, short for engin, skill; see engine.]

gin³ (jĭn)

n. Gin rummy.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Gin

Gin\, prep. [AS. ge['a]n. See Again.] Against; near by; towards; as, gin night. [Scot.] --A. Ross (1778).

Gin

Gin\, conj. [See Gin, prep.] If. [Scotch] --Jamieson.

Gin

Gin\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gan, Gon (?), or Gun (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Ginning.] [OE. ginnen, AS. ginnan (in comp.), prob. orig., to open, cut open, cf. OHG. inginnan to begin, open, cut open, and prob. akin to AS. g[=i]nan to yawn, and E. yawn. ? See Yawn, v. i., and cf. Begin.] To begin; -- often followed by an infinitive without to; as, gan tell. See Gan. [Obs. or Archaic] "He gan to pray." --Chaucer.

Gin

Gin\, n. [Contr. from Geneva. See 2d Geneva.] A strong alcoholic liquor, distilled from rye and barley, and flavored with juniper berries; -- also called Hollands and Holland gin, because originally, and still very extensively, manufactured in Holland. Common gin is usually flavored with turpentine.

Gin

Gin\, n. [A contraction of engine.]

1. Contrivance; artifice; a trap; a snare. --Chaucer. Spenser.

2. (a) A machine for raising or moving heavy weights, consisting of a tripod formed of poles united at the top, with a windlass, pulleys, ropes, etc. (b) (Mining) A hoisting drum, usually vertical; a whim.

3. A machine for separating the seeds from cotton; a cotton gin.

Note: The name is also given to an instrument of torture worked with screws, and to a pump moved by rotary sails.

Gin block, a simple form of tackle block, having one wheel, over which a rope runs; -- called also whip gin, rubbish pulley, and monkey wheel.

Gin power, a form of horse power for driving a cotton gin.

Gin race, or Gin ring, the path of the horse when putting a gin in motion. --Halliwell.

Gin saw, a saw used in a cotton gin for drawing the fibers through the grid, leaving the seed in the hopper.

Gin wheel. (a) In a cotton gin, a wheel for drawing the fiber through the grid; a brush wheel to clean away the lint. (b) (Mining) the drum of a whim.

Gin

Gin\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ginned; p. pr. & vb. n. Ginning.]

1. To catch in a trap. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.

2. To clear of seeds by a machine; as, to gin cotton.

Language Translation for : gin

Spanish: ginebra,

German: der Gin,

Japanese: ジン

More Translations »

gin (n.1)

"type of distilled drinking alcohol," 1714, shortening of geneva, alt. (by influence of the Swiss city) from Du. genever "juniper" (because the alcohol was flavored with its berries), from O.Fr. genevre, from L. juniperus "juniper." Gin rummy first attested 1941.

gin (n.2)

"machine for separating cotton from seeds," 1796, Amer.Eng., used earlier of various other machineries, from M.E. gin "ingenious device, contrivance" (c.1200), from O.Fr. gin "machine, device, scheme," aphetic form of engin, from L. ingenium (see engine).

gin (v.)

in slang phrase gin up "enliven, make more exciting," 1887, probably from earlier ginger up in same sense, from ginger in sense of "spice, pizzazz;" specifically in ref. to the treatment described in the 1811 slang dictionary under the entry for feague:

... to put ginger up a horse's fundament, and formerly, as it is said, a live eel, to make him lively and carry his tail well; it is said, a forfeit is incurred by any horse-dealer's servant, who shall shew a horse without first feaguing him. Feague is used, figuratively, for encouraging or spiriting one up.

GIN
A special-purpose macro assembler used to build the GEORGE 3 operating system for ICL1900 series computers.
(1994-11-02)

Gin

a trap. (1.) Ps. 140:5, 141:9, Amos 3:5, the Hebrew word used, _mokesh_, means a noose or "snare," as it is elsewhere rendered (Ps. 18:5; Prov. 13:14, etc.). (2.) Job 18:9, Isa. 8:14, Heb. pah, a plate or thin layer; and hence a net, a snare, trap, especially of a fowler (Ps. 69: 22, "Let their table before them become a net;" Amos 3:5, "Doth a bird fall into a net [pah] upon the ground where there is no trap-stick [mokesh] for her? doth the net [pah] spring up from the ground and take nothing at all?", Gesenius.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Cite This Source

GIN
Greenland-Iceland-Norway

Search another word or see gin on Thesaurus | Reference

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Advertise with Us · Link to Us · NASCAR® · Contact Us