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girdle

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girdle¹

  • /ˈɡɝdl̩/ US
  • /ˈɡɜːdl̩/ UK

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)dəl

Where it comes from

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”).

noun girdles

  1. That which girds, encircles, or encloses; a circumference. the girdle of the world
  2. A belt or sash at the waist, often used to support stockings or hosiery. And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles
  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 girdles · girdling · girdled

  1. transitive To gird, encircle, or constrain by such means. The Equator, as everyone knows, is an imaginary line or circle girdling the Earth half-way between the North and South poles.
  2. transitive To kill or stunt a tree by removing or inverting a ring of bark. The ordinary large reddish "hen hawks," which circle high above meadows, are doing great good to the farmer by feeding upon the mice and other creatures which steal his grain and girdle his trees.

girdle²

  • /ˈɡɝdl̩/ US
  • /ˈɡɜːdl̩/ UK

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)dəl

noun girdles

  1. Northern English, Scotland, alternative Alternative form of griddle

Translations

Every language

noun circumference

Françaisenceinte
Ελληνικάπεριφέρεια periféreia

noun belt

Españolfaja
日本語ガードル gādoru
中文束腰 shùyāo
Portuguêscinta, cinto
Françaisgaine
DeutschHüfthalter
Italianocintura, fascia, corsetto, busto
Ελληνικάζώνη zóni, περίζωμα perízoma
Românăcentură
Русскийпо́яс pójas, по́яс для чуло́к pójas dlja čulók

noun line of greatest circumference of a diamond

Françaisrondiste
Italianocintura

verb to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means

Italianocingere, circondare
Ελληνικάζώνω zóno, περιζώνω perizóno

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Cite this
MLA

"girdle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/girdle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

girdle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/girdle

Chicago

"girdle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/girdle.

BibTeX
@misc{girdle_2026,
  title = {girdle},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/girdle},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}