gird1
/ɡəːd
/verb (past and past participle girded or girt) [with object] literary
1Encircle (a person or part of the body) with a belt or band: a young man was to be girded with the belt of knighthood...
- One believer will gird him or herself with a towel, bend a knee, and wash the feet of another in a simple basin, drying the feet with the towel that is wrapped around the waist.
- I invest him with your robe, gird him with your sash, entrust him with your authority; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah.
- A golden belt girded his waist.
1.1Secure (a garment or sword) on the body with a belt or band: a white robe girded with a magenta sash...
- One was prepared to leave, and had only to gird his sword about his waist, when the other spoke suddenly.
- They gird their weapons, mount their horses, and form into groups in the guise of a troop of soldiers.
- The bushes rustled, and around us three more men, all with swords girt at their sides, stepped out.
Synonyms
fasten, belt, bind, tie
1.2Surround; encircle: the ruins are girded by two deep gorges...
- Well that's interesting, because we sing in our national anthem that ‘Our land is girt by sea’, but we have been slow to recognise its importance in indigenous culture.
- I thought of our pilgrimages out of the city, the slow tide of traffic to the shore or family visits, a cincture of security and welcome girding the suburbs and beyond.
- In the eastern section were three broad stone pillars supporting the balcony above, which girded the guest rooms on the second floor.
Synonyms
surround, enclose, encircle, circle, ring, encompass, circumscribe, border, bound, edge, skirt, fringe, form a ring around, form a barrier round;
close in, shut in, fence in, wall in, hem in, pen up/in, lock in, cut off, confine
literary girdle, engird, compass
Phrases
gird (up) one's loins (or gird oneself for something)
Origin
Old English gyrdan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch gorden and German gürten, also to girdle1 and girth.
Rhymes
gird2
/ɡəːd/archaic
verb [no object]
Make cutting or critical remarks: the clubmen girded at the Committee
noun
A cutting or critical remark: his girds were oblique, and touched to the quick
Origin
Middle English (in the sense 'strike, stab'): of unknown origin.