gregorian telescope
The first] form of the refecting telescope, invented by James Gregory (1638-75), professor of mathematics at St Andrews (1663).
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gregorian tree
The gallows: so named from Gregory Brandon, a famous finisher of the law; to whom Sir William Segar, garter king of arms (being imposed on by Brooke, a herald), granted a coat of arms.
gregorian tree
The gallows; so named from Gregory Brandon and his son, Robert (who
Gregorian Year
The civil year, according to the correction introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. See CALENDAR.
Gregory of Rimini
The Authentic Doctor. Robert Holcot (d .1349), an English Domini- can and divine.
Gregory Peck
The neck.
Gregory the Great and St
Prisca. Emblemati- cally or in heraldry the eagle is a charge of great honour. It was called the Bird of Jove y the Romans, and borne on their army standards. France (under the Empires), Austria, Prussia and Russia adopted it as a royal or imperial emblem.
Greta Hall
The poet of Greta Hall. Southey, who lived at Greta Hall, in the Vale of Kes- wick (1774-1843).
Gretna Green Marriages
Runaway matches. In Scotland, all that is required of contracting parties is a mutual declaration before witnesses of their willingness to marry, so that elopers reaching Gretna, a hamlet near the village of Springfield, Dumfriesshire, 8 miles N.W. of Carlisle, and just across the border, could (up to 1856) get legally married without either licence, banns, or priest. The declaration was generally made to a blacksmith.
grey area
Unclear.
grey beard
Earthen jugs formerly used in public house for drawing ale: they had the figure of a man with a large beard stamped on them; whence probably they took the name: see BEN JONSON'S PLAYS, BARTHOLOMEW FAIR, &c. &c. Dutch earthen jugs, used for smuggling gin on the coasts of Essex and Suffolk, are at this time called grey beards.
grey cells
Brain cells, used to describe thinking or memory
Grey Cloak
A City of London alderman who has passed the chair; so called because his official robe is furred with grey amis.
Grey Eminence
The name given to Francois Leclerc du Tremolay (1577-1638), or Pere Joseph, as he was called, the Capuchin agent and trusty counsellor of Cardinal Richelieu. He owed his sobriquet to the fact that his influence and his policy inspired the Cardinal's actions, and that he was, as it were, a shadowy cardinal in the background.
Grey Friars
Franciscans fa.v.). Black Friars are Dominicans, and White Friars Carmelites.
grey mare
The grey mare is the better horse; said of a woman who governs her husband.
grey matter
intelligence or brainpower
grey parson
A farmer who rents the tithes of the rector or vicar.
grey power
The social and political influence of older people
Grey Sisters
See FRANCISCANS. Grey Washer by the Ford, Ifce. An Irish wraith which seems to be washing clothes in a river; but when the "doomed man" approaches she holds up what she seemed to be washing, and it is the phantom of himself with his death wounds from which he is about to suffer.
greyish brown
The colour of the earth, to which the dead return; used for mourning in Ethiopia.
griddler
A person who sings in the streets without a printed copy of the words.—Seven Dials.
gridiron
A County Court summons. Originally a summons to the Court of Westminster only; from the GRIDIRON arms. The Grafton Club is nearly always known as the GRID or GRIDIRON, that instrument being brought into requisition whenever possible in the cuisine.
gridiron and dough boys
The flag of the United States, in allusion to the stars and stripes.—Sea.
grief
"to come to GRIEF," to meet with an accident, to be ruined.
griff
marijuana.
griffin
In India, a newly-arrived cadet; general for an inexperienced youngster.
grifo
Cannabis.
grig
A farthing. A merry grig; a fellow as merry as a grig: an allusion to the apparent liveliness of a grig, or young eel.
grim
Old Mr. Grim; death.
Grim's Dyke
The name given to the great fortified fosse which was probably built in prehistoric times by the first invaders from the Continent as a protection against the aborigines. It can still be traced along most of its length through the Chilterns.
grimalkin
A cat: mawkin signifies a hare in Scotland.
Grimm's Law
The law of the permutation of consonants in the principal Aryan languages, first formulated by Jacob L. Grimm, the Ger- man philologist, in 1822. Thus, what is p in Greek, Latin, or Sanskrit, becomes/in Gothic, and b or/in the Old High German; what is t in Greek, Latin, or Sanskrit becomes th in Gothic, and din. Old High German; etc. Thus changing p into /, and t into tht "pater" becomes "father.
grin
To grin in a glass case; to be anatomized for murder: the skeletons of many criminals are preserved in glass cases, at Surgeons' hall.
grin and bear it
to endure an unpleasant situation with patience
grinagog, the cat's uncle
A foolish grinning fellow, one who grins without reason.
grind
"to take a GRIND," i.e., a walk, or constitutional. The daily grind is a term representing employment containing much routine. At Oxford college sports are called sometimes the GRIND.
grind down
to wear someone down by constant pressure or effort
grind one's gears
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
grind the corn
to attend to routine tasks
grindage
Food.
grinder
Any tooth.
grinder
Private tutor, a coach.—University.
grinders
Teeth. Gooseberry grinder; the breech. Ask bogey, the gooseberry grinder; ask mine a-se.
grinding machine
a person or system that works very hard
grindoff
A miller. From The Miller and his Men.
grinds
Food, eats.
grins and giggles
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
gripes
The stomach-ache. See TRIPES.
grist for the mill
Information used to support or fuel a particular argument or situation
grit one's teeth
Endure a difficult or painful situation with determination
grizzle
To fret or cry continuously.
Groaning Chair
A rustic name for a chair in which a woman sits after her confinement to receive congratulations. Similarly "groaning cake" and "groaning cheese" (called in some dialects kenno, because its making was kept a secret) are the cake and cheese which used to be provided in "Goose month" (q.v.)., and "groaning malt" was a strong ale brewed for the occasion.
groats
To save his groats; to come off handsomely: at the universities, nine groats are deposited in the hands of an academic officer, by every person standing for a degree; which if the depositor obtains with honour, the groats are returned to him.
grog
Rum and water. Grog was first introduced into the navy about the year 1740, by Admiral Vernon, to prevent the sailors intoxicating themselves with their allowance of rum, or spirits. Groggy, or groggified; drunk.
grog blossoms
Pimples on the face, caused by hard drinking. Of such a person it is often said, "He bears his blushing honours thick upon him."
grog-blossom
A carbuncle, or pimple in the face, caused by drinking.
grog-fight
A drinking party.—Military.
grogged
A grogged horse; a foundered horse.
groggified
drunk
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