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Webster 1913 Edition


Gorget

Gor′get

,
Noun.
[OF.
gorgete
, dim. of
gorge
throat. See
Gorge
,
Noun.
]
1.
A piece of armor, whether of chain mail or of plate, defending the throat and upper part of the breast, and forming a part of the double breastplate of the 14th century.
2.
A piece of plate armor covering the same parts and worn over the buff coat in the 17th century, and without other steel armor.
Unfix the
gorget’s
iron clasp.
Sir W. Scott.
3.
A small ornamental plate, usually crescent-shaped, and of gilded copper, formerly hung around the neck of officers in full uniform in some modern armies.
4.
A ruff worn by women.
[Obs.]
5.
(Surg.)
(a)
A cutting instrument used in lithotomy.
(b)
A grooved instrunent used in performing various operations; – called also
blunt gorget
.
Dunglison.
6.
(Zool.)
A crescent-shaped, colored patch on the neck of a bird or mammal.
Gorget hummer
(Zool.)
,
a humming bird of the genus
Trochilus
. See
Rubythroat
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Gorget

GORG'ET

,
Noun.
A piece of armor for defending the throat or neck; a kind of breast-plate like a half-moon; also, a small convex ornament worn by officers on the breast.
1.
Formerly, a ruff worn by females.
2.
In surgery, gorget, or gorgeret, is a cutting instrument used in lithotomy; also, a concave or cannulated conductor, called a blunt gorget.

Definition 2024


gorget

gorget

English

Gorget

Noun

gorget (plural gorgets)

  1. (historical) A piece of armour for the throat.
    • 1663, Hudibras, by Samuel Butler, part 1, canto 2
      About his neck a threefold gorget, / As rough as trebled leathern target
    • Sir Walter Scott
      Unfix the gorget's iron clasp.
    • 1968, Michael Moorcock, The Mad God's Amulet, Gollancz 2003, p. 209:
      Hawkmoon whipped his sword from the scabbard, leaped forward, and drove the blade into the throat of the warrior just below his gorget.
    • 1999, George RR Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam 2011, p. 500:
      Renly lifted his chin to allow Brienne to fasten his gorget in place.
  2. (historical) A type of women's clothing covering the neck and breast; a wimple.
  3. An ornament for the neck; a necklace, ornamental collar, torque etc.
  4. (surgery) A cutting instrument used in lithotomy.
  5. A grooved instrument used in performing various operations; called also blunt gorget.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Dunglison to this entry?)
  6. (zoology) A crescent-shaped coloured patch on the neck of a bird or mammal.

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