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gin

[jin]

Origin

noun

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

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

Origin:
1705–15; shortened from geneva

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Gin is always a great word to know.

So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

cotton gin.

a trap or snare for game.

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

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

verb (used with object)

to clear (cotton) of seeds with a gin.

to snare (game).

Origin:
1150–1200; Middle English gyn, aphetic variant of Old French engin engine

Related forms

gin·ner, noun

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

to begin.

Origin:
1150–1200; Middle English ginnen, Old English ginnan, aphetic variant of onginnan, beginnen to begin

noun

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.

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)

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

Origin:
1955–60; perhaps special use of gin¹

conjunction Chiefly Scot. and Southern Appalachian.

if; whether.

Origin:
1665–75; variously explained as sense development of gien given (see gie, -en³); as contraction of gif if + an² (compare iffen); or as aphetic form of again

noun Australian Informal.

a female Aborigine.

an Aboriginal wife.

Also, jin.

Origin:
1820–30; < Dharuk di-yin

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To gin

Collins

World English Dictionary

gin¹ (dʒɪn)

—n
1.	an alcoholic drink obtained by distillation and rectification of the grain of malted barley, rye, or maize, flavoured with juniper berries
2.	any of various grain spirits flavoured with other fruit or aromatic essences: sloe gin
3.	an alcoholic drink made from any rectified spirit

[C18: shortened from Dutch genever juniper, via Old French from Latin jūniperusjuniper]

gin² (dʒɪn)

—n
1.	a primitive engine in which a vertical shaft is turned by horses driving a horizontal beam or yoke in a circle
2.	Also called: cotton gin a machine of this type used for separating seeds from raw cotton
3.	a trap for catching small mammals, consisting of a noose of thin strong wire
4.	a hand-operated hoist that consists of a drum winder turned by a crank

—vb , gins, ginning, ginned
5.	to free (cotton) of seeds with a gin
6.	to trap or snare (game) with a gin

[C13 gyn, shortened from engine]

'ginner²

—n

gin³ (ɡɪn)

—vb , gins, ginning, gan, gun
	an archaic word for begin

gin⁴ (ɡɪn)

—*conj*
	(Scot) if

[perhaps related to gif, an earlier form of if]

gin⁵ (dʒɪn)

—n
	offensive, slang (Austral) an Aboriginal woman

[C19: from a native Australian language]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

gin

"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.

EXPAND

gin

"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

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.

COLLAPSE

FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

GIN definition

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

American Heritage

Abbreviations & Acronyms

GIN
Greenland-Iceland-Norway

Easton

Bible Dictionary

Gin definition

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
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Slang

gin dive gin mill

gin mill

Matching Quote

"And the tranquil hills, & gin, look like a drag"

-John Berryman

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