Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Gin
Gin
,p
rep.
Against; near by; towards;
as,
. gin
night[Scot.]
A. Ross (1778).
Gin
(gĭn)
, Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Gan
(găn)
, Gon
(gŏn), or Gun
(gŭn); p. pr. & vb. n.
Ginning
.] [OE. , and cf.
ginnen
, AS. ginnan
(in comp.), prob. orig., to open, cut open, cf. OHG. inginnan
to begin, open, cut open, and prob. akin to AS. gīnan
to yawn, and E. yawn
. √31. See Yawn
, Verb.
I.
Begin
.] To begin; – often followed by an infinitive without to;
as,
. See gan
tellGan
. [Obs. or Archaic]
“He gan to pray.” Chaucer.
Gin
(jĭn)
, Noun.
[Contr. from
Geneva
. See 2d Geneva
.] A strong alcoholic liquor, distilled from rye and barley, and flavored with juniper berries; – also called
Hollands
and Holland gin
, because originally, and still very extensively, manufactured in Holland. Common gin is usually flavored with turpentine. Gin
,Noun.
[A contraction of
engine
.] 1.
Contrivance; artifice; a trap; a snare.
Chaucer. Spenser.
2.
(a)
A machine for raising or moving heavy weights, consisting of a tripod formed of poles united at the top, with a windlass, pulleys, ropes, etc.
(b)
(Mining)
A hoisting drum, usually vertical; a whim.
3.
A machine for separating the seeds from cotton; a cotton gin.
☞ The name is also given to an instrument of torture worked with screws, and to a pump moved by rotary sails.
Gin block
, a simple form of tackle block, having one wheel, over which a rope runs; – called also
– whip gin
, rubbish pulley
, and monkey wheel
. Gin power
, a form of horse power for driving a cotton gin.
– Gin race
, or Gin ring
the path of the horse when putting a gin in motion.
Halliwell.
– Gin saw
, a saw used in a cotton gin for drawing the fibers through the grid, leaving the seed in the hopper.
– Gin wheel
. (a)
In a cotton gin, a wheel for drawing the fiber through the grid; a brush wheel to clean away the lint.
(b)
(Mining)
the drum of a whim.
Gin
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Ginned
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Ginning
.] 1.
To catch in a trap.
[Obs.]
Beau. & Fl.
2.
To clear of seeds by a machine;
as, to
. gin
cottonWebster 1828 Edition
Gin
GIN
,Noun.
GIN
,Noun.
1.
A trap; a snare.GIN
,Verb.
T.
1.
To catch in a trap.GIN
,Verb.
I.