English Explanatory Dictionary

girdle

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. That which girds, encircles, or encloses; a circumference.
  2. A belt or sash at the waist, often used to support stockings or hosiery.
  3. A garment used to hold the abdomen, hips, buttocks, and/or thighs in a particular shape.
  4. The line of greatest circumference of a brilliant-cut diamond, at which it is grasped by the setting.
  5. A thin bed or stratum of stone.
  6. The clitellum of an earthworm.
  7. The removal or inversion of a ring of bark in order to kill or stunt a tree.
verb
  1. To gird, encircle, or constrain by such means.
  2. To kill or stunt a tree by removing or inverting a ring of bark.
noun
  1. Alternative form of griddle.

Pronunciation

/ˈɡɝdl̩/ /ˈɡɜːdl̩/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-girdle.wav

Word forms

girdle girdles girdling girdled

Etymology

From Middle English girdel, gerdel, gurdel, from Old English gyrdel, from Proto-West Germanic *gurdil, from Proto-Germanic *gurdilaz (“girdle, belt”), equivalent to gird + -le. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gäddel (“belt”), West Frisian gurdle, gurle, gurl (“belt”), Dutch gordel (“belt”), German Gürtel (“belt”), Yiddish גאַרטל (gartl, “belt”) (whence gartel, a doublet of girdle), Swedish gördel (“girdle”), Icelandic gyrðill (“girdle”).

Derived words

athlete's girdle begirdle breast-girdle engirdle girdlelike Girdle Ness girdle scone girdlestead girdle traverse limb girdle syndrome mirdle notch girdle panty girdle pectoral girdle peel girdle pelvic girdle shoulder girdle Venus's girdle girdler ungirdle
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