gall.
Impudence or brazenness; temerity; chutzpah.
Meaning & usage
Impudence or brazenness; temerity; chutzpah.
A gallbladder.
Bile, especially that of an animal; the greenish, profoundly bitter-tasting fluid found in bile ducts and gall bladders, structures associated with the liver.
Great misery or physical suffering, likened to the bitterest-tasting of substances.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English galle, from Old English ġealla, galla, from Proto-West Germanic *gallā, from Proto-Germanic *gallǭ. The figurative senses (e.g., impudence, brazenness, chutzpah) are related to the literal sense (i.e., bile) via the lasting linguocultural effects of humorism, which governed Western medicine for many centuries before the advent of scientific medicine. Related to Dutch gal, German Galle, Swedish galle, galla, Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ). Also remotely related with yellow and gold.
A sore on a horse caused by an ill-fitted or ill-adjusted saddle; a saddle sore.
A sore or open wound caused by chafing, which may become infected, as with a blister.
A feeling of exasperation.
A pit on a surface being cut caused by the friction between the two surfaces exceeding the bond of the material at a point.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English galle, from Old English gealla (“a fretted spot on the skin”), from Proto-West Germanic *gallō, from Proto-Germanic *gallô (“infirmity, swelling, lesion”).
To chafe, to rub or subject to friction; to create a sore on the skin.
To bother or trouble.
To harass, to harry, often with the intent to cause injury.
To exasperate.
To cause pitting on a surface being cut from the friction between the two surfaces exceeding the bond of the material at a point.
Improper cooling and a dull milling cutter on titanium can gall the surface.
To scoff; to jeer.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English galle, from Old English gealla (“a fretted spot on the skin”), from Proto-West Germanic *gallō, from Proto-Germanic *gallô (“infirmity, swelling, lesion”).
A blister or tumor-like growth found on the surface of plants, caused by various pathogens, especially the burrowing of insect larvae into the living tissues, such as that of the common oak gall wasp (Cynips quercusfolii).
A bump-like imperfection resembling a gall.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English galle, from Old French galle, from Latin galla (“oak-apple”).
To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts in dyeing.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English galle, from Old French galle, from Latin galla (“oak-apple”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.