Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Gypsy?

\Gyp"sy\, n.; pl. {Gypsies}. [OE. Gypcyan, F. gyptien Egyptian, gypsy, L. Aegyptius. See {Egyptian}.] [Also spelled gipsy and gypsey.] 1. One of a vagabond race, whose tribes, coming originally from India, entered Europe in 14th or 15th centry, and are now scattered over Turkey, Russia, Hungary, Spain, England, etc., living by theft, fortune telling, horsejockeying, tinkering, etc. Cf. {Bohemian}, {Romany}. Like a right gypsy, hath, at fast and loose, Beguiled me to the very heart of loss. --Shak. 2. The language used by the gypsies. --Shak. 3. A dark-complexioned person. --Shak. 4. A cunning or crafty person [Collog.] --Prior.
\Gyp"sy\ a. Pertaining to, or suitable for, gypsies. {Gypsy hat}, a woman's or child's broad-brimmed hat, usually of straw or felt. {Gypsy winch}, a small winch, which may be operated by a crank, or by a ratchet and pawl through a lever working up and down.
\Gyp"sy\, v. i. To play the gypsy; to picnic in the woods. Mostly. {Gyp"sy*ing}, vb. n.
\Gyp"sy\, or Gipsy moth \Gip"sy, moth\ . A tussock moth (Ocneria dispar) native of the Old World, but accidentally introduced into eastern Massachusetts about 1869, where its caterpillars have done great damage to fruit, shade, and forest trees of many kinds. The male gypsy moth is yellowish brown, the female white, and larger than the male. In both sexes the wings are marked by dark lines and a dark lunule. The caterpillars, when full-grown, have a grayish mottled appearance, with blue tubercles on the anterior and red tubercles on the posterior part of the body, all giving rise to long yellow and black hairs. They usually pupate in July and the moth appears in August. The eggs are laid on tree trunks, rocks, etc., and hatch in the spring.