Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Gin?

\Gin\, prep. [AS. ge['a]n. See {Again}.] Against; near by; towards; as, gin night. [Scot.] --A. Ross (1778).
\Gin\, conj. [See {Gin}, prep.] If. [Scotch] --Jamieson.
\Gin\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Gan}, {Gon} (?), or {Gun} (?); p. pr. & vb. n. {Ginning}.] [OE. ginnen, AS. ginnan (in comp.), prob. orig., to open, cut open, cf. OHG. inginnan to begin, open, cut open, and prob. akin to AS. g[=i]nan to yawn, and E. yawn. ? See {Yawn}, v. i., and cf. {Begin}.] To begin; -- often followed by an infinitive without to; as, gan tell. See {Gan}. [Obs. or Archaic] ``He gan to pray.'' --Chaucer.
\Gin\, n. [Contr. from Geneva. See 2d {Geneva}.] A strong alcoholic liquor, distilled from rye and barley, and flavored with juniper berries; -- also called {Hollands} and {Holland gin}, because originally, and still very extensively, manufactured in Holland. Common gin is usually flavored with turpentine.
\Gin\, n. [A contraction of engine.] 1. Contrivance; artifice; a trap; a snare. --Chaucer. Spenser. 2. (a) A machine for raising or moving heavy weights, consisting of a tripod formed of poles united at the top, with a windlass, pulleys, ropes, etc. (b) (Mining) A hoisting drum, usually vertical; a whim. 3. A machine for separating the seeds from cotton; a cotton gin. Note: The name is also given to an instrument of torture worked with screws, and to a pump moved by rotary sails. {Gin block}, a simple form of tackle block, having one wheel, over which a rope runs; -- called also {whip gin}, {rubbish pulley}, and {monkey wheel}. {Gin power}, a form of horse power for driving a cotton gin. {Gin race}, or {Gin ring}, the path of the horse when putting a gin in motion. --Halliwell. {Gin saw}, a saw used in a cotton gin for drawing the fibers through the grid, leaving the seed in the hopper. {Gin wheel}. (a) In a cotton gin, a wheel for drawing the fiber through the grid; a brush wheel to clean away the lint. (b) (Mining) the drum of a whim.
\Gin\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Ginned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Ginning}.] 1. To catch in a trap. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl. 2. To clear of seeds by a machine; as, to gin cotton.