girdle
To gird, encircle, or constrain by such meansTo gird, encircle, or constrain by such means.
Meaning
2 senses(transitive)To gird, encircle, or constrain by such means.
(transitive)To kill or stunt a tree by removing or inverting a ring of bark.
- put a girdle on or around
- cut a girdle around so as to kill by interrupting the circulation of water and nutrients
Examples
6 sentencesAre you wearing a girdle?
deTrägst du ein Korsett? — Zaghawa
Tom wore a girdle to make his beer belly seem smaller.
deTom trug ein Korsett, um seinen Bierbauch kleiner erscheinen zu lassen. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Principles are a girdle that gets tighter and tighter over time.
deGrundsätze sind ein Korsett, das mit der Zeit immer enger wird. — Esperantostern
She wears a girdle.
deSie trägt einen Gürtel. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
So long as you hold fast to my girdle, you will remain unseen by all mankind, though seeing clearly yourself.
Translations
1 languagesOrigin
From Middle English girdel, gerdel, gurdel, from Old English gyrdel, from Proto-West GermaFrom Middle English girdel, gerdel, gurdel, from Old English gyrdel, from Proto-West Germanic *gurdil, from Proto-Germanic *gurdilaz (“girdle, belt”), equivalent to gird + -le.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
girdles, girdling, girdled, girdledSynonyms
2 synonymsWord family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.