n. [ AS. gild, gield, geld, tribute, payment, fr. gieldan to pay, render. See Yield. ] Money; tribute; compensation; ransom.[ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word occurs in old law books in composition, as in danegeld, or danegelt, a tax imposed by the Danes; weregeld, compensation for the life of a man, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Gelded or Gelt (&unr_;); p. pr. & vb. n. Gelding. ] [ Icel. gelda to castrate; akin to Dan. gilde, Sw. gälla, and cf. AS. gilte a young sow, OHG. galt dry, not giving milk, G. gelt, Goth. gilpa siclke. ] 1. To castrate; to emasculate. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To deprive of anything essential. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bereft and gelded of his patrimony. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To deprive of anything exceptionable; as, to geld a book, or a story; to expurgate. [ Obs. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being gelded. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Geld money. ] Liable to taxation. [ Obs. ] Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who gelds or castrates. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Guelder-rose. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Icel. gelding a gelding, akin to geldingr wether, eunuch, Sw. gälling gelding, Dan. gilding eunuch. See Geld, v. t. ] A castrated animal; -- usually applied to a horse, but formerly used also of the human male. [ 1913 Webster ]

They went down both into the water, Philip and the gelding, and Philip baptized him. Wyclif (Acts viii. 38). [ 1913 Webster ]

p. pr., a., & vb. n. from Geld, v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]