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girth

[gurth]

noun

the measure around anything; circumference.

a band that passes underneath a horse or other animal to hold a saddle in place, especially one having a buckle at each end for fastening to straps running from under the flaps of the saddle.

something that encircles; a band or girdle.

verb (used with object)

to bind or fasten with a girth.

to girdle; encircle.

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Girth is one of our favorite verbs.

So is subtilize. Does it mean:

to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.

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Also, girt.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English girth, gerth < Old Norse gerth girdle; akin to gird¹

Related forms

un·der·girth, noun

un·girthed, adjective

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

Example Sentences

However, it's hard to blame his campaign for focusing on matters of girth.

In fact, he notes, the girth of the water pipes allows smokers to take bigger puffs than on cigarettes.

Amazon horned frogs achieve their enormous girth by being generally indiscriminate about what they eat.

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However, it's hard to blame his campaign for focusing on matters of girth.

In fact, he notes, the girth of the water pipes allows smokers to take bigger puffs than on cigarettes.

Amazon horned frogs achieve their enormous girth by being generally indiscriminate about what they eat.

Easy sleep is a distant memory now that she must contend with tens of pounds of extra girth.

Streamline fatties by shaving off some girth with a vegetable peeler.

It's about twice the girth of a normal ballpoint pen and operates without a battery.

Whether milled for bread or cooked as nubbins, grains are stalwart little soldiers that can be counted on to add girth to dinner.

Good food was his main indulgence, as his girth indicated.

And to be sure, the easiest way for an automaker to shed a vehicle's girth is to shrink it.

But girth shouldn't be the only dimension in the health care debate.

Its extra girth made the difference and prevented the pore from closing.

All the new girth will be carried by a completely new wing and engines.

Some stood stolidly in front of their houses, with short pink and purple skirts hugging their wide girth.

Unfortunately, heavier vehicles need beefier engines to lug their extra girth around.

Sarnoff wore finely tailored three-piece suits that hid his girth.

The season is less than a week old and already the whispers have begun about his considerable girth.

But the companies got bigger and bigger, priding themselves on their girth rather than their profits.

Despite being pretty easy on the scale, it has some serious girth.

The book's girth makes its own environmental statement.

Siemens as a lumbering, over-large conglomerate fit only to be broken up-not to buy its way to an even greater girth.

The software even considers age and girth when simulating the amount of sap within the trunk.

Scientists have been tracking the earth's girth for more than two decades.

Though it may not be a magic bullet, some experts think it could help those whose girth has already grown out of control.

But when they grow to the girth of a person's forearm they fall victim to disease cankers.

The fit is perfect for me in both length and girth while providing enough stretch for a taller frame.

His girth required a bit more care, but it didn't slow him down.

Pavarotti's famous girth and his bad knees hampered him dramatically.

They are gawked over, praised for their athletic skills and admired for the impending girth of their bank accounts.

The shirt hung loosely on him, his girth reduced during his time in custody.

The firm's girth also threatens to attract the gaze of regulators.

Flaws were also found in the girth welds, the ones that connect segments of pipe.

My husband undid the girth and began to pull it off.

Until now, the size and girth of media kits varied wildly from company to company.

The fins not only added height to the car, it also added girth.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

girth (ɡɜːθ)

—n
1.	the distance around something; circumference
2.	size or bulk: a man of great girth
3.	a band around a horse's belly to keep the saddle in position

—vb
4.	(usually foll by up) to fasten a girth on (a horse)
5.	(tr) to encircle or surround

[C14: from Old Norse gjörth belt; related to Gothic gairdagirdle¹; see gird¹]

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

girth

c.1300, "belt around a horse's body," from O.N. gjorð "girdle, belt, hoop," from P.Gmc. *gertu- (cf Goth. gairda "girdle"), from the same source as gird (q.v.). Sense of "measurement around an object" first recorded 1644.

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Matching Quote

"It is said that when manners are licentious, a revolution is always near: the virtue of woman being the main girth and bandage of society; because a man will not lay up an estate for children any longer than whilst he believes them to be his own."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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