gall

noun galls

1. uncountable Impudence or brazenness; temerity; chutzpah. “Durn ye!” he cried. “I’ll lam ye! Get offen here. I knows ye. Yer one o’ that gang o’ bums that come here last night, an’ now you got the gall to come back beggin’ for food, eh? I’ll lam ye!” and he raised the gun to his shoulder.
2. archaic, countable A gallbladder. He shall flee from the iron weapon and the bow of steel shall strike him through. It is drawn and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall.
3. archaic, uncountable Bile, especially that of an animal; the greenish, profoundly bitter-tasting fluid found in bile ducts and gall bladders, structures associated with the liver.
4. figuratively, uncountable Great misery or physical suffering, likened to the bitterest-tasting of substances. Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

noun galls

1. countable A sore on a horse caused by an ill-fitted or ill-adjusted saddle; a saddle sore. Riding a horse with bruised or broken skin can cause a gall, which frequently results in the white saddle marks seen on the withers and backs of some horses.
2. countable A sore or open wound caused by chafing, which may become infected, as with a blister. And remember perfectly well his revolving eyes and his awkwardness, / And remember putting plasters on the galls of his neck and ankles;
3. figuratively, uncountable A feeling of exasperation. Thou ſhalt be leader of this thouſand horſe, Whoſe foming galle with rage and high diſdaine, Haue ſworne the death of wicked Tamburlaine.
4. countable A pit on a surface being cut caused by the friction between the two surfaces exceeding the bond of the material at a point.

verb galls · galling · galled

1. ergative To chafe, to rub or subject to friction; to create a sore on the skin. […] he went awkwardly in these clothes at first: wearing the drawers was very awkward to him, and the sleeves of the waistcoat galled his shoulders and the inside of his arms; but a little easing them where he complained they hurt him, and using himself to them, he took to them at length very well.
2. figuratively, transitive To bother or trouble. It is as lack of breath or bread: life hath no grief more galling.
3. figuratively, transitive To harass, to harry, often with the intent to cause injury. The disposition for these detachments is as follows – Morgans corps, to gain the enemy’s right flank; Maxwells brigade to hang on their left. Brigadier Genl. Scott is now marching with a very respectable detachment destined to gall the enemys left flank and rear.
4. figuratively, transitive To exasperate. Metrinko was hungry, but he was galled by how self-congratulatory his captors seemed, how generous and noble and proudly Islamic.

   Similar: rankle

5. transitive To cause pitting on a surface being cut from the friction between the two surfaces exceeding the bond of the material at a point. Improper cooling and a dull milling cutter on titanium can gall the surface.
6. intransitive, obsolete, rare To scoff; to jeer. I have seen you gleeking and galling at this gentleman twice or thrice. You thought, because he could not speak English in the native garb, he could not therefore handle an English cudgel

noun galls

1. A blister or tumor-like growth found on the surface of plants, caused by various pathogens, especially the burrowing of insect larvae into the living tissues, such as that of the common oak gall wasp (Cynips quercusfolii). Even so, Redi retained a belief that in certain other cases—the origin of parasites inside the human or animal body or of grubs inside of oak galls—there must be spontaneous generation. Bit by bit the evidence grew against such views. In 1670 Jan Swammerdam, painstaking student of the insect’s life
2. A bump-like imperfection resembling a gall. But first for your Line. First note, that you are to take care that your hair be round and clear, and free from galls, or scabs, or frets: for a well- chosen, even, clear, round hair, of a kind of glass-colour, will prove as strong as three uneven scabby hairs that are ill-chosen, and full of galls

Similar: nutgall

verb galls · galling · galled

1. transitive To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts in dyeing. Raw silk is not galled, it is dyed at once in the black without any preparation : the liquor should be hot

proper noun Galls

1. A surname.