v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Girt r Girded; p. pr. & vb. n. Girding. ] [ OE. girden, gurden, AS. gyrdan; akin to OS. gurdian, D. gorden, OHG. gurten, G. gürten, Icel. gyrða, Sw. gjorda, Dan. giorde, Goth. bigaírdan to begird, and prob. to E. yard an inclosure. Cf. Girth, n. & v., Girt, v. t. ] 1. To encircle or bind with any flexible band. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make fast, as clothing, by binding with a cord, girdle, bandage, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To surround; to encircle, or encompass. [ 1913 Webster ]

That Nyseian isle,
Girt with the River Triton. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To clothe; to swathe; to invest. [ 1913 Webster ]

I girded thee about with fine linen. Ezek. xvi. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Son . . . appeared
Girt with omnipotence. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To prepare; to make ready; to equip; as, to gird one's self for a contest. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou hast girded me with strength. Ps. xviii. 39. [ 1913 Webster ]

To gird on, to put on; to fasten around or to one securely, like a girdle; as, to gird on armor or a sword. [ 1913 Webster ] Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off. 1 Kings xx. 11. --
To gird up, to bind tightly with a girdle; to support and strengthen, as with a girdle. [ 1913 Webster ] He girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab. 1 Kings xviii. 46. [ 1913 Webster ] Gird up the loins of your mind. 1 Pet. i. 13. --
Girt up; prepared or equipped, as for a journey or for work, in allusion to the ancient custom of gathering the long flowing garments into the girdle and tightening it before any exertion; hence, adjectively, eagerly or constantly active; strenuous; striving. “A severer, more girt-up way of living.” J. C. Shairp. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Yard a measure. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A stroke with a rod or switch; a severe spasm; a twinge; a pang. [ 1913 Webster ]

Conscience . . . is freed from many fearful girds and twinges which the atheist feels. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A cut; a sarcastic remark; a gibe; a sneer. [ 1913 Webster ]

I thank thee for that gird, good Tranio. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Gird, n., and cf. Girde, v. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To strike; to smite. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To slay him and to girden off his head. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To sneer at; to mock; to gibe. [ 1913 Webster ]

Being moved, he will not spare to gird the gods. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To gibe; to sneer; to break a scornful jest; to utter severe sarcasms. [ 1913 Webster ]

Men of all sorts take a pride to gird at me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Gird to encircle. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. One who, or that which, girds. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch. & Engin.) A main beam; a stright, horizontal beam to span an opening or carry weight, such as ends of floor beams, etc.; hence, a framed or built-up member discharging the same office, technically called a compound girder. See Illusts. of Frame, and Doubleframed floor, under Double. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bowstring girder,
Box girder, etc. See under Bowstring, Box, etc. --
Girder bridge. See under Bridge. --
Lattice girder, a girder consisting of longitudinal bars united by diagonal crossing bars. --
Half-lattice girder, a girder consisting of horizontal upper and lower bars connected by a series of diagonal bars sloping alternately in opposite directions so as to divide the space between the bars into a series of triangles. Knight. --
Sandwich girder, a girder consisting of two parallel wooden beams, between which is an iron plate, the whole clamped together by iron bolts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Gird to sneer at. ] One who girds; a satirist. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. That with which one is girded; a girdle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth. Is. iii. 24. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A griddle. [ Scot. & Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. gurdel, girdel, AS. gyrdel, fr. gyrdan; akin to D. gordel, G. gürtel, Icel. gyr&unr_;ill. See Gird, v. t., to encircle, and cf. Girth, n. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Within the girdle of these walls. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their breasts girded with golden girdles. Rev. xv. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The zodiac; also, the equator. [ Poetic ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

From the world's girdle to the frozen pole. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

That gems the starry girdle of the year. Campbell. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Jewelry) The line ofgreatest circumference of a brilliant-cut diamond, at which it is grasped by the setting. See Illust. of Brilliant. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mining) A thin bed or stratum of stone. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) The clitellus of an earthworm. [ 1913 Webster ]

Girdle bone (Anat.), the sphenethmoid. See under Sphenethmoid. --
Girdle wheel, a spinning wheel. --
Sea girdle (Zool.), 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Girdled p. pr. & vb. n. Girdling ] 1. To bind with a belt or sash; to gird. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To inclose; to environ; to shut in. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those sleeping stones,
That as a waist doth girdle you about. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To make a cut or gnaw a groove around (a tree, etc.) through the bark and alburnum, thus killing it. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]