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: 1665–75; variously explained as sense development of gien given (see gie, -en3); as contr. of gifif+ an2(cf. iffen); or as aph. form of again]
gin 1Audio Help (jĭn) Pronunciation Key
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.]
"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.
"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).
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.
Be*gin"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Began, Begun; p. pr. & vb. n. Beginning.] [AS. beginnan (akin to OS. biginnan, D. & G. beginnen, OHG. biginnan, Goth., du-ginnan, Sw. begynna, Dan. begynde); pref. be- + an assumed ginnan. [root]31. See Gin to begin.]1. To have or commence an independent or first existence; to take rise; to commence. Vast chain of being! which from God began. --Pope. 2. To do the first act or the first part of an action; to enter upon or commence something new, as a new form or state of being, or course of action; to take the first step; to start. "Tears began to flow." --Dryden. When I begin, I will also make an end. --1 Sam. iii. 12.
En"gine\, n. [F. engin skill, machine, engine, L. ingenium natural capacity, invention; in in + the root of gignere to produce. See Genius, and cf. Ingenious, Gin a snare.]1. (Pronounced, in this sense, ????.) Natural capacity; ability; skill. [Obs.] A man hath sapiences three, Memory, engine, and intellect also. --Chaucer. 2. Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; an agent. --Shak. You see the ways the fisherman doth take To catch the fish; what engines doth he make? --Bunyan. Their promises, enticements, oaths, tokens, and all these engines of lust. --Shak. 3. Any instrument by which any effect is produced; especially, an instrument or machine of war or torture. "Terrible engines of death." --Sir W. Raleigh. 4. (Mach.) A compound machine by which any physical power is applied to produce a given physical effect. Engine driver, one who manages an engine; specifically, the engineer of a locomotive. Engine lathe. (Mach.) See under Lathe. Engine tool, a machine tool. --J. Whitworth. Engine turning (Fine Arts), a method of ornamentation by means of a rose engine. Note: The term engine is more commonly applied to massive machines, or to those giving power, or which produce some difficult result. Engines, as motors, are distinguished according to the source of power, as steam engine, air engine, electro-magnetic engine; or the purpose on account of which the power is applied, as fire engine, pumping engine, locomotive engine; or some peculiarity of construction or operation, as single-acting or double-acting engine, high-pressure or low-pressure engine, condensing engine, etc.
Gan\, imp. of Gin. [See Gin, v.] Began; commenced. Note: Gan was formerly used with the infinitive to form compound imperfects, as did is now employed. Gan regularly denotes the singular; the plural is usually denoted by gunne or gonne. This man gan fall (i.e., fell) in great suspicion. --Chaucer. The little coines to their play gunne hie (i. e., hied). --Chaucer. Note: Later writers use gan both for singular and plural. Yet at her speech their rages gan relent. --Spenser.
Gan\, imp. of Gin. [See Gin, v.] Began; commenced. Note: Gan was formerly used with the infinitive to form compound imperfects, as did is now employed. Gan regularly denotes the singular; the plural is usually denoted by gunne or gonne. This man gan fall (i.e., fell) in great suspicion. --Chaucer. The little coines to their play gunne hie (i. e., hied). --Chaucer. Note: Later writers use gan both for singular and plural. Yet at her speech their rages gan relent. --Spenser.
Ge*ne"va\, n. [F. geni[`e]vre juniper, juniper berry, gin, OF. geneivre juniper, fr. L. juniperus the juniper tree: cf. D. jenever, fr. F. geni[`e]vre. See Juniper, and cf. Gin a liquor.] A strongly alcoholic liquor, flavored with juniper berries; -- made in Holland; Holland gin; Hollands.
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.)