The Wordsmith Dictionary

Gir "dle, n. Etym: [OE. gurdel, girdel, AS. gyrdel, fr. gyrdan; akin to D. gordel, G. gürtel, Icel. gyr. See Gird, v. t., to encircle, and cf. Girth, n.]

1. That which girds, encircles, or incloses; a circumference; a belt; esp. , a belt, sash, or article of dress encircling the body usually at the waist; a cestus. Within the girdle of these walls. Shak. Their breasts girded with golden girdles. Rev. xv. 6.

2. The zodiac; also, the equator. [Poetic ] Bacon. From the world's girdle to the frozen pole. Cowper. That gems the starry girdle of the year. Campbell.

3. (Jewelry )

Defn: The line ofgreatest circumference of a brilliant-cut diamond, at which it is grasped by the setting. See Illust. of Brilliant. Knight.

4. (Mining )

Defn: A thin bed or stratum of stone. Raymond.

5. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The clitellus of an earthworm. Girdle bone (Anat. ), the sphenethmoid. See under Sphenethmoid. -- Girdle wheel, a spinning wheel. -- Sea girdle (Zoöl.), a ctenophore. See Venus's girdle, under Venus. -- Shoulder, Pectoral, and Pelvic, girdle. (Anat. ) See under Pectoral, and Pelvic. -- To have under the girdle, to have bound to one, that is, in subjection.

GIRDLE

Gir "dle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Girdled; p. pr. & vb. n. Girdling.]

1. To bind with a belt or sash; to gird. Shak.

2. To inclose; to environ; to shut in. Those sleeping stones, That as a waist doth girdle you about. Shak.

3. To make a cut or gnaw a groove around (a tree, etc. ) through the bark and alburnum, thus killing it. [U. S.]

GIRDLER

GIRDLER Gir "dler, n.

1. One who girdles.

2. A maker of girdles.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: An American longicorn beetle (Oncideres cingulatus ) which lays its eggs in the twigs of the hickory, and then girdles each branch by gnawing a groove around it, thus killing it to provide suitable food for the larvæ.

GIRDLESTEAD

Gir "dle *stead, n. Etym: [Girdle + stead place. ]

1. That part of the body where the girdle is worn. [Obs. ] Sheathed, beneath his girdlestead. Chapman.

2. The lap. [R.] There fell a flower into her girdlestead. Swinburne.

New American Oxford Dictionary

girdle

gir dle |ˈgərdl ˈɡərdl | ▶noun a belt or cord worn around the waist. • a woman's elasticized corset extending from waist to thigh. • a thing that surrounds something like a belt or girdle: a communications girdle around the world. • Anatomy either of two sets of bones encircling the body, to which the limbs are attached. See pectoral girdle, pelvic girdle. • the part of a cut gem dividing the crown from the base and embraced by the setting. • a ring around a tree made by removing bark. ▶verb [ with obj. ] 1 encircle (the body ) with or as a girdle or belt: the Friar loosened the rope that girdled his waist. • surround; encircle: the chain of volcanoes that girdles the Pacific. 2 cut through the bark all the way around (a tree or branch ), typically in order to kill it or to kill a branch to make the tree more fruitful. ORIGIN Old English gyrdel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch gordel and German Gürtel, also to gird 1 and girth .

girdled lizard

girdled lizard (also girdle-tailed lizard ) ▶noun an African lizard with rough or spiny scales which give a banded appearance to the body and tail. Also called zonure. ●Genus Cordylus, family Cordylidae: several species, in particular the common (or Cape ) girdled lizard (C. cordylus ).

girdler

gir dler |ˈgərd (ə )lər ˈɡərdələr | ▶noun 1 archaic a maker of girdles. 2 a person or thing that girdles. • an insect that removes rings of bark from trees: [ in combination ] : a twig-girdler.

Oxford Dictionary

girdle

girdle 1 |ˈgəːd (ə )l | ▶noun 1 a belt or cord worn round the waist. • a thing that encircles something like a girdle: a communications girdle around the world. • Anatomy either of two sets of bones encircling the body, to which the limbs are attached. See pectoral girdle, pelvic girdle. 2 a woman's elasticated corset extending from waist to thigh. 3 the part of a cut gem dividing the crown from the base and embraced by the setting. 4 a ring made around a tree by removing bark. ▶verb [ with obj. ] 1 encircle (the body ) with a girdle: the Friar loosened the rope that girdled his waist. • surround; encircle: the chain of volcanoes which girdles the Pacific. 2 cut through the bark all the way round (a tree or branch ), typically in order to kill it. ORIGIN Old English gyrdel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch gordel and German Gürtel, also to gird 1 and girth .

girdle

girdle 2 |ˈgəːd (ə )l | ▶noun Scottish and northern English term for griddle ( sense 1 of the noun ). ORIGIN late Middle English: variant of griddle .

girdled lizard

girdler

gird |ler ▶noun 1 archaic a maker of girdles. 2 an insect which removes rings of bark from trees.

American Oxford Thesaurus

girdle

girdle noun 1 her stockings were held up by her girdle: corset, panty girdle, corselet, foundation garment; truss. 2 a diamond-studded girdle: belt, sash, cummerbund, waistband, strap, band, girth, cord. ▶verb a garden girdled the house: surround, enclose, encircle, circle, encompass, circumscribe, border, bound, skirt, edge; literary gird.

Oxford Thesaurus

girdle

girdle noun 1 round his waist was a diamond-studded girdle: belt, sash, strap, cummerbund, waistband, band, girth, cord, fillet; Japanese obi; rare baldric, cincture, ceinture, cestus, cingulum, zone. 2 her stockings were held up by her girdle: corset, corselet, foundation garment, panty girdle; Medicine truss. ▶verb literary a formal garden girdled the house: surround, enclose, encircle, circle, ring, encompass, circumscribe, border, bound, edge, skirt, fringe, form a ring around, form a barrier round; close in, shut in, fence in, wall in, hem in, pen up /in, lock in, cut off, confine; literary gird, engird, compass.

Sanseido Wisdom Dictionary

girdle

gir dle /ɡə́ː r d (ə )l /名詞 C 1 帯, 腰帯, ベルト .2 ガードル〘女性用下着〙.3 (周囲を囲む )帯状のもの, 輪 ; (宝石の )縁 .4 樹皮を輪状に剥（は）ぎ取った跡 .5 〘解剖〙帯（たい）▸ the pelvic [hip ] girdle 骨盤帯 h à ve [h ò ld ] A under one's g í rdle Aを服従させる, 支配下に置く .p ù t a g í rdle around A Aを環状に取り巻く .動詞他動詞 1 …を帯で巻く, (ひもなどで )結ぶ .2 «…で » …を (帯状に )取り巻く, 囲む (about, around ) «with » .3 〈樹皮〉を輪状に剥ぎ取る .