gurry
gurry noun: a circular gong that was struck at regular intervals to indicate the time.
Noun (1)
gurry (plural gurries)
- A circular gong that was struck at regular intervals to indicate the time.
- Among those in general use that have drawn the attention of Europeans living in India, are the alloys for the gurry, and the Biddery ware. The gurry is a disk of a cubit and upwards in diameter, about half an inch in thickness in the centre, but decreasing toward the circumference, where it is...1814, The Annals of Philosophy - Volume 2, page 260
- As they have no hour glasses, they measure their time by a kind of clepsydra. It is a small brass basin, about four inches in diameter, made thin enough to float on the water, with a hole in the bottom which admits as much as to fill it exactly in one gurry, or twenty-two and a half minutes. The...1823, William Brown, Antiquities of the Jews, page 138
- The time interval indicated by striking the gurry. Originally, this was twenty-two and a half minutes, but later, under British influence, changed to an hour.
- Maha Rajah then got up, and we three likewise took our leaves; when we went into an outer house, Seat Bollakey Doss said to me, Do you likewise come along with me; and I haveing gotten a bond written out and sealed, you will see it done; he having said this, I agreed; he having got into his...1776, Nandakumara (Mahārāja), The Trial of Maha Rajah Nundocomar, Bahader, for Forgery, page 68
- Half a gurry after that, I went away too.1816, Thomas Bayly Howell, A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors, page 997
- A small fort.
- Since then, and in the course of yesterday afternoon, the town and gurry of Jubbulpore have been entirely evacuated by armed people of every description.1819, Sylvanus Urban, “Interesting Intelligence from the London Gazettes”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, page 262
- This was without the village, which, independently of the clay-built wall with which it was encircled, is further protected by a gurry, or little fort, on the acclivity of the hill, which arises from it to the westward.1839, David Price, Edward Moor, Memoirs of the Early Life and Service of a Field Officer
Noun (2)
gurry (uncountable)
- Fishing offal.
- The practice of throwing overboard gurry is in many respects reprehensible, because in the first place it is a very great waste of animal matter.1878, Sir Alexander Galt, “Award of the fishery commission”, in Executive Documents for the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the Forty-Fifth Congress ([US] House of...
- She decided that in the future she'd take scales and gurry over soot and ash.1995, Dana Stabenow, Play with Fire, →ISBN, page 18
- Diarrhoea.
Examples of gurry in a sentence
- Among those in general use that have drawn the attention of Europeans living in India, are the alloys for the gurry, and the Biddery ware.1814, The Annals of Philosophy - Volume 2, page 260:
- The sinking, therefore, of the vessel, is the signal for striking the gurry, and warning the inhabitants.1823, William Brown, Antiquities of the Jews, page 138:
- 54 On the 18th, we halted at sunset, as usual, and most of us were walking out into the woods -- some getting wood for cooking, others looking for hares — when we heard a gurry strike seven o'clock.1853, John Ryder, Four Years' Service in India, page 54:
- With the butchering over, they hosed each other of any crap and gurry not washed from their oilskins by the seas, then kicked the remaining mess over the side.2017, William B. McCloskey, Warriors, →ISBN, page 278:
Forms of gurry
| plural | gurries |
|---|---|
| alternative form (dialectal) | gyre |
| alternative form (dialectal) | gyur |
| alternative form (dialectal) | ger |
| alternative form (dialectal) | gerr |
| alternative form (dialectal) | gurr |
Origin of gurry
From Hindi गढ़ी (gaṛhī, “fort”).
Origin unknown. Attested from the mid-nineteenth century. Perhaps derived from Middle English gore, gor, gorre (“mud, muck”), from Old English gor (“manure, dung, filth, muck, dirt”), from Proto-West Germanic *gor, from Proto-Germanic *gurą (“half-digested stomach contents; faeces; manure”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰer- (“hot; warm”). Compare Saterland Frisian Gorre (“muddy liquid; thick, liquid manure”), Old Norse gorr, gor (“intestines, (half-digested) intestinal contents, filth, dung; peat, silt-esc earth”).
Words formed from gurry
Phrases with gurry
Questions about gurry
- What does gurry mean?
- Gurry means a circular gong that was struck at regular intervals to indicate the time.
- How do you use gurry in a sentence?
- Among those in general use that have drawn the attention of Europeans living in India, are the alloys for the gurry, and the Biddery ware.
- What part of speech is gurry?
- Gurry is a noun.
- What is the plural of gurry?
- The plural of gurry is gurries.
Words near gurry in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gurry (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “gurry.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gurry. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.