galls

Noun (1)

gall (countable and uncountable, plural galls)

1. (uncountable) Impudence or brazenness; temerity; chutzpah.
   • “Durn ye!” he cried. “I’ll lam ye! Get offen here. I knows ye. Yer one o’ that gang o’ bums that come here last night, an’ now you got the gall to come back beggin’ for food, eh? I’ll lam ye!” and he raised the gun to his shoulder.1917, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 6, in The Oakdale Affair
2. (archaic, countable) A gallbladder.
   • He shall flee from the iron weapon and the bow of steel shall strike him through. It is drawn and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 20:24–25
3. (archaic, uncountable) Bile, especially that of an animal; the greenish, profoundly bitter-tasting fluid found in bile ducts and gall bladders, structures associated with the liver.
4. (figuratively, uncountable) Great misery or physical suffering, likened to the bitterest-tasting of substances.
   • Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 29:18

Noun (2)

gall (countable and uncountable, plural galls)

1. (countable) A sore on a horse caused by an ill-fitted or ill-adjusted saddle; a saddle sore.
   • Riding a horse with bruised or broken skin can cause a gall, which frequently results in the white saddle marks seen on the withers and backs of some horses.1989 National Ag Safety Database (Centers for Disease Control)
2. (countable) A sore or open wound caused by chafing, which may become infected, as with a blister.
   • And remember perfectly well his revolving eyes and his awkwardness, / And remember putting plasters on the galls of his neck and ankles;1892, Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], →OCLC

See all 18 meanings of gall