gills

Noun

gill (plural gills)

1. A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.
   • Fishes […] perform their respiration under water by the gills.1691, John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation. […], London: […] Samuel Smith, […], →OCLC
2. A gill slit or gill cover.
   • Gill nets are designed to catch a fish by the gills.
3. One of the radial folds on the underside of the cap of a mushroom, the surface of which bears the spore-producing organs.

   Synonyms:

   lamella

4. (animal anatomy) The fleshy flap that hangs below the beak of a fowl; a wattle.
5. (figuratively) The flesh under or about the chin; a wattle.
   • dropsy fills you to the gills1728, Jonathan Swift, Ballad on Ballyspellin
6. One of the combs of closely ranged steel pins which divide the ribbons of flax fiber or wool into fewer parallel filaments.

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