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A gay, sprightly, military man; hence, a gallant.

A horseman; a knight; a gallant young man. "Mount, chevaliers; to arms." Shak.

Pertaining to chivalry or knight-errantry; warlike; heroic; gallant; high-spirited; high-minded; magnanimous. In brave pursuit of chivalrous emprise. Spenser.

In a chivalrous manner; gallantly; magnanimously.

w line (Naut.), a rope by which a clew of one of the smaller square sails, as topsail, topgallant sail, or royal, is run up to its yard. -- Clew-line block (Naut.), The block through which a clew line reeves. See Illust. of Block.

sire to please; courtesy; civility. These [ladies] . . . are by the just complaisance and gallantry of our nation the most powerful part of our people. Addison. They strive with their own hearts and keep them down, In complaisance to all the fools in town. Young.

Courtliness; elegance of manners; courtesy. [Obs.] Trim gallants, full of courtship and of state. Shak.

Attention to apparel, or skill in adjusting it. Men of pleasure, dress, and gallantry. Pope.

Courtship; gallantry; love; an object of love. [Obs.] Chaucer.

o the eye; one wirehaired with the eyes. [Obs.] That's the eye-saint, I know, Among young gallants. Beau. & Fl.

A gallant. [Obs.] Courting her smoothly like a femalist. Marston.

The mast erected at the head of the foremast, and at the head of which stands the fore-topgallant mast. See Ship.

fast getting into what, in New England, is sometimes called a gale. Brooke (Eastford). Topgallant gale (Naut.), one in which a ship may carry her topgallant sails.

ger, or a kind of salmon. Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day. That coats thy life, my gallant gray. Sir W. Scott.

g married woman of the lower class; more frequently, a young working woman who is fond of gallantry. Sterne.

ther they bent, and hauled their ships to land. Pope. Romp-loving miss Is hauled about in gallantry robust. Thomson.

Illustrated; distinguished; illustrious. [Obs.] This most gallant, illustrate, and learned gentleman. Shak.

A bar of iron athwart ships at a topgallant masthead, to support a royal mast, and give spread to the royal shrouds; -- called also jack crosstree. R. H. Dana, Jr.

A gallant who captivates the hearts of women. "A renowned dandy and lady-killer." Blackw. Mag.

wed. The heralds finished their proclamation with their usual cry of "Largesse, largesse, gallant knights!" and gold and silver pieces were showered on them from the galleries. Sir W. Scott.