girths

Noun

girth (countable and uncountable, plural girths)

1. A band passed under the belly of an animal, which holds a saddle or a harness saddle in place.
   • He was standing on the offside of his horse, holding up the flap of his saddle, with the surcingle loosened, and was pointing to the girths. Close to their attachment to the saddle they had been almost cut through with a knife.1929, Baldwyn Dyke Acland, chapter 8, in Filibuster
2. The part of an animal around which the girth fits.
3. (informal) One's waistline circumference, most often a large one.
   • He's a lusty, jolly fellow, that lives well, at least three yards in the girth.1716 March 15 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 22. Sunday, March 5. [1716.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob...
4. A small horizontal brace or girder.
5. The distance measured around an object; the circumference.
6. The length of the shortest cycle in a graph.

See all 7 meanings of girth