Search the Dictionary

To encompass; to begird. Milton.

That which engirdles a person or thing; a band or girdle; as, a lady's belt; a sword belt. The shining belt with gold inlaid. Dryden.

brilliant-cut diamond, which projects from the setting and occupies the zone between the girdle and the table. See Brilliant, n.

A plate of iron or a mass of wood under the end of a bridge girder, to keep the girder from resting directly on the abutment.

aced, the thrust of which is resisted by a tie forming a chord of the arch. -- Bowstring girder, an arched beam strengthened by a tie connecting its two ends. -- Bowstring hemp (Bot.), the tenacious fiber of the Sanseviera Zeylanica, growing in India and Africa, from which bowstrings are made. Balfour.…

A summer or girder extending across a building flush with, and supporting, the upper part of a front or external wall; a long lintel; a girder; -- used principally above shop windows. [Written also brestsummer and bressummer.]

ream, and made to pass from bank to bank by the action of the current or other means. -- Girder bridge or Truss bridge, a bridge formed by girders, or by trusses resting upon abutments or piers. -- Lattice bridge, a bridge formed by lattice girders. -- Pontoon bridge, Ponton bridge. See under Pontoon. -- Skew bridg…

An upward concavity in the under side of a beam, girder, or lintel; also, a slight upward concavity in a straight arch. See Hogback. Camber arch (Arch.), an arch whose intrados, though apparently straight, has a slightly concave curve upward. -- Camber beam (Arch.), a beam whose under side has a concave curve upward.…

to furnish a complement to; as, to cap text; to cap proverbs. Shak. Now I have him under girdle I'll cap verses with him to the end of the chapter. Dryden.

rvæ usually bore into the wood or bark of trees and shurbs and are often destructive. See Girdler, Pruner.

The space between two principals or girders.

A girdle. [Obs.]

A cincture, girdle, or belt; -- chiefly used in English as a dressmaking term.

A woman's girdle; a cestus. [R.] Collins.

A girdle; particularly that of Aphrodite (or Venus) which gave the wearer the power of exciting love.

A belt, a girdle, or something worn round the body, -- as by an ecclesiastic for confining the alb.

A distinct girdle or band of color; a raised spiral line as seen on certain univalve shells.

er part of the body; especially, such a garment worn by men. Let each His adamantine coat gird well. Milton.

Pertaining to a bone of the shoulder girdle in most birds, reptiles, and amphibians, which is reduced to a process of the scapula in most mammals.

A Franciscan; -- so called in France from the girdle of knotted cord worn by all Franciscans.