gall
noun/ɡɔːl/
/ɡɔːl/
- [uncountable] rude behaviour showing a lack of respect that is surprising because the person behaving badly is not embarrassed synonym impudence
- Then they had the gall to complain!
- I almost admired the utter gall of the man.
- [uncountable] (formal) a bitter feeling full of hate synonym resentment
- words full of venom and gall
- [countable] a swelling (= an area that is larger and rounder than normal) on plants, trees and the skin of animals, caused by insects, disease, etc.
- (also bile)[uncountable] (old-fashioned) the green-brown liquid with a bitter unpleasant taste that is produced by the liver to help the body to deal with the fats we eat, and that can come into your mouth when you vomit with an empty stomach
- (also bile)[uncountable] (formal) a strong feeling of anger or hating somebody/something
Word Originnoun sense 1 and noun sense 4 Old English gealla (denoting bile), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch gal, German Galle ‘gall’, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek kholē and Latin fel ‘bile’. noun sense 2 Old English gealle ‘sore on a horse’, perhaps related to gall ‘rude behaviour’; superseded in Middle English by forms from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch. noun sense 3 Middle English: via Old French from Latin galla.
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