v. i. To scoff; to jeer. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.[ OE. galle, gal, AS. gealla; akin to D. gal, OS. & OHG. galla, Icel. gall, SW. galla, Dan. galde, L. fel, Gr. &unr_;, and prob. to E. yellow. √49. See Yellow, and cf. Choler ] 1. (Physiol.) The bitter, alkaline, viscid fluid found in the gall bladder, beneath the liver. It consists of the secretion of the liver, or bile, mixed with that of the mucous membrane of the gall bladder. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The gall bladder. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Anything extremely bitter; bitterness; rancor. [ 1913 Webster ]

He hath . . . compassed me with gall and travail. Lam. iii. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

Comedy diverted without gall. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Impudence; brazen assurance. [ Slang ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Gall bladder (Anat.), the membranous sac, in which the bile, or gall, is stored up, as secreted by the liver; the cholecystis. See Illust. of Digestive apparatus. --
Gall duct, a duct which conveys bile, as the cystic duct, or the hepatic duct. --
Gall sickness, a remitting bilious fever in the Netherlands. Dunglison. --
Gall of the earth (Bot.), an herbaceous composite plant with variously lobed and cleft leaves, usually the Prenanthes serpentaria. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. galle, noix de galle, fr. L. galla. ] (Zool.) An excrescence of any form produced on any part of a plant by insects or their larvae. They are most commonly caused by small Hymenoptera and Diptera which puncture the bark and lay their eggs in the wounds. The larvae live within the galls. Some galls are due to aphids, mites, etc. See Gallnut. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The galls, or gallnuts, of commerce are produced by insects of the genus Cynips, chiefly on an oak (Quercus infectoria syn. Quercus Lusitanica) of Western Asia and Southern Europe. They contain much tannin, and are used in the manufacture of that article and for making ink and a black dye, as well as in medicine. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gall insect (Zool.), any insect that produces galls. --
Gall midge (Zool.), any small dipterous insect that produces galls. --
Gall oak, the oak (Quercus infectoria) which yields the galls of commerce. --
Gall of glass, the neutral salt skimmed off from the surface of melted crown glass;- called also glass gall and sandiver. Ure.--
Gall wasp. (Zool.) See Gallfly. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. (Dyeing) To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Galled p. pr. & vb. n. Galling. ] [ OE. gallen; cf. F. galer to scratch, rub, gale scurf, scab, G. galle a disease in horses' feet, an excrescence under the tongue of horses; of uncertain origin. Cf. Gall gallnut. ] 1. To fret and wear away by friction; to hurt or break the skin of by rubbing; to chafe; to injure the surface of by attrition; as, a saddle galls the back of a horse; to gall a mast or a cable. [ 1913 Webster ]

I am loth to gall a new-healed wound. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fret; to vex; as, to be galled by sarcasm. [ 1913 Webster ]

They that are most galled with my folly,
They most must laugh. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To injure; to harass; to annoy; as, the troops were galled by the shot of the enemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

In our wars against the French of old, we used to gall them with our longbows, at a greater distance than they could shoot their arrows. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A wound in the skin made by rubbing. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Gallanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Gallanting. ] 1. To attend or wait on, as a lady; as, to gallant ladies to the play. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To handle with grace or in a modish manner; as, to gallant a fan. [ Obs. ] Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A man of mettle or spirit; a gay, fashionable man; a young blood. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One fond of paying attention to ladies. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One who wooes; a lover; a suitor; in a bad sense, a seducer. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the first sense it is by some orthoëpists (as in Shakespeare) accented on the first syllable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Polite and attentive to ladies; courteous to women; chivalrous. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. gallant, prop. p. pr. of OF. galer to rejoice, akin to OF. gale amusement, It. gala ornament; of German origin; cf. OHG. geil merry, luxuriant, wanton, G. geil lascivious, akin to AS. gāl wanton, wicked, OS. gēl merry, Goth. gailjan to make to rejoice, or perh. akin to E. weal. See Gala, Galloon. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed. [ 1913 Webster ]

The town is built in a very gallant place. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our royal, good and gallant ship. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Noble in bearing or spirit; brave; high-spirited; courageous; heroic; magnanimous; as, a gallant youth; a gallant officer. [ 1913 Webster ]

That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gay, the wise, the gallant, and the grave. Waller.

Syn. -- Gallant, Courageous, Brave. Courageous is generic, denoting an inward spirit which rises above fear; brave is more outward, marking a spirit which braves or defies danger; gallant rises still higher, denoting bravery on extraordinary occasions in a spirit of adventure. A courageous man is ready for battle; a brave man courts it; a gallant man dashes into the midst of the conflict. [ 1913 Webster ]