gall

1 an open sore on the back of a horse caused by ill-fitting or badly adjusted saddle [syn: saddle sore]

2 a skin sore caused by chafing

3 abnormal swelling of plant tissue caused by insects or microorganisms or injury

4 a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will [syn: resentment, bitterness, rancor, rancour]

5 a digestive juice secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder; aids in the digestion of fats [syn: bile]

6 the trait of being rude and impertinent; inclined to take liberties [syn: crust, impertinence, impudence, insolence, cheekiness, freshness]

1 become or make sore by or as if by rubbing [syn: chafe, fret]

2 irritate or vex; "It galls me that we lost the suit" [syn: irk]

English

Etymology

Old English gealla, from Latin galla, gallnut. There may be a coalescence of two roots, with OE geolu, 'yellow' being the other.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔːl

Noun

1. Bile, especially that of an animal; the greenish, profoundly bitter-tasting fluid found in bile ducts and gallbladders, structures associated with the liver.
2. The gallbladder.

   1611 He shall flee from the iron weapon and the bow of steel shall strike him through. It is drawn and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall. Job 20:24 & 25 KJV

3. Great misery or physical suffering, likened to the bitterest-tasting of substances.

   1611 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood — Deuteronomy 29:18 KJV

4. A blister or tumor-like growth found on the surface of plants, caused by burrowing of insect larvae into the living tissues, especially that of the common oak gall wasp (Cynips quercusfolii).

   1974 ''Even so, Redi retained a belief that in certain other cases--the origin of parasites inside the human or animal body or of grubs inside of oak galls--there must be spontaneous generation. Bit by bit the evidence grew against such views. In 1670 Jan Swammerdam, painstaking student of the insect's life cycle, suggested that the grubs in galls were enclosed in them for the sake of nourishment and must come from insects that had inserted their semen or their eggs into the plants. — Dictionary of the History of Ideas.

5. A bump-like imperfection resembling a gall.

   1653 But first for your Line. First note, that you are to take care that your hair be round and clear, and free from galls, or scabs, or frets: for a well- chosen, even, clear, round hair, of a kind of glass-colour, will prove as strong as three uneven scabby hairs that are ill-chosen, and full of galls or unevenness. You shall seldom find a black hair but it is round, but many white are flat and uneven; therefore, if you get a lock of right, round, clear, glass-colour hair, make much of it. — Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler'', Chapter 21.

6. A feeling of exasperation.

   1792 It moves my gall to hear a preacher descanting on dress and needle-work; and still more, to hear him address the British fair, the fairest of the fair, as if they had only feelings. — Mary Wollstonecraft, ''A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

7. An action demonstrating impudence or brazenness; temerity, chutzpah.

   1918 "Durn ye!" he cried. "I'll lam ye! Get offen here. I knows ye. Yer one o' that gang o' bums that come here last night, an' now you got the gall to come back beggin' for food, eh? I'll lam ye!" and he raised the gun to his shoulder. — Arthur Conan Doyle, The Oakdale Affair'', Chapter 6.

8. A sore or open wound caused by chafing, which may become infected, as with a blister.

   1892 The runaway slave came to my house and stopt outside,

   I heard his motions crackling the twigs of the woodpile,

   Through the swung half-door of the kitchen I saw him limpsy and weak,

   And went where he sat on a log and led him in and assured him,

   And brought water and fill'd a tub for his sweated body and bruis'd feet,

   And gave him a room that enter'd from my own, and gave him some coarse clean clothes,

   And remember perfectly well his revolving eyes and his awkwardness,

   And remember putting plasters on the galls of his neck and ankles;

   He staid with me a week before he was recuperated and pass'd north,

   I had him sit next me at table, my fire-lock lean'd in the corner. — Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself", Leaves of Grass.

9. A sore on a horse caused by an ill-fitted or ill-adjusted saddle; a saddle sore.

   Riding a horse with bruised or broken skin can cause a gall, which frequently results in the white saddle marks seen on the withers and backs of some horses.'' — National Ag Safety Database (Centers for Disease Control).

10. A pit caused on a surface being cut caused by the friction between the two surfaces exceeding the bond of the material at a point.

Verb

1. To be troubled or bothered by.

   1883 I went below, and did what I could for my wound; it pained me a good deal, and still bled freely; but it was neither deep nor dangerous, nor did it greatly gall me when I used my arm. — Robert Louis Stevenson, ''Treasure Island, Chapter 27.

2. To harass, to harry, often with the intent to cause injury.

   June 24, 1778 ''The disposition for these detachments is as follows -- Morgans corps, to gain the enemy's right flank; Maxwells brigade to hang on their left. Brigadier Genl. Scott is now marching with a very respectable detachment destined to gall the enemys left flank and rear. — George Washington, The Writings of George Washington From the Original Manuscript Sources: Volume 12, 1745-1799.

3. To chafe, to rub or subject to friction; to create a sore on the skin.
4. To exasperate.

   1979 Metrinko was hungry, but he was galled by how self-congratulatory his captors seemed, how generous and noble and proudly Islamic. — Mark Bowden, "Captivity Pageant", The Atlantic, Volume 296, No. 5, pp. 92-97, December, 1979.

5. 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 blade on titanium can gall the surface''

Translations

• Finnish: ärsyttää (1), suututtaa (1)

Derived terms

• gallbladder
• gall midge
• gall wasp

Catalan

Etymology

Latin gallus

Noun

gall

1. rooster, cock

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

Irish Gall, a stranger, Englishman, Early Irish gall, foreigner; from Gallus, a Gaul, the Gauls being the first strangers to visit or be visited by the Irish in Pre-Roman and Roman times (Zimmer). for derivation See gal, valour. Stokes takes a different view; he gives as basis for gall, stranger, *gallo-s, Welsh gal, enemy, foe: *ghaslo-? root ghas, Latin hos-tis, English guest. Hence he derives Gallus, a Gaul, so named from some Celtic dialect.

Noun

gall , gen/pl goill

1. stranger
2. foreigner

An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, Alexander MacBain, Gairm Publications, 1982

Galls or plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues and can be caused by various parasites, from fungi and bacteria, to insects and mites. Galls are often very organised structures and because of this, the cause of the gall can often be determined without the actual agent being identified. This applies particularly to some insect and mite galls.

Causes of plant galls

Insects

Insect galls develop under the influence of gall-inducing insects. Insect galls are usually induced by the chemicals injected by the larvae or the adults in the plants, either including mechanical damage or not. After the galls are formed, the larvae develop inside until fully grown, at which time they leave, sometimes as adults. In order to form galls, the insects must seize the time when plant cell division occurs at a high speed, the growing season, usually spring in temperate climates, but which can be extended in tropical latitudes. Also, the specific places where plant cell division occurs are needed to induce galls, that is, the meristems. Although insect galls can be found on a variety of parts of the plant, such as the leaves, stalks, branches, buds, roots or even flowers and fruits, gall-inducing insects are usually species-specific and sometimes tissue-specific on the plants they gall. Some insects induce galls on plants similar to each other, frequently within genera or family.

Gall-inducing insects include gall wasps, gall midges, aphids, and psyllids.

Fungi

A gall-inducing fungus is: Cedar-apple rust

Bacteria and viruses

Crown Gall is an example of a gall-causing bacterium.

Other Plants

Mistletoe can form galls on its hosts

Uses

Galls are rich in resins and tannic acid and have been used in the manufacture of permanent inks (such as iron gall ink) and astringent ointments, in dyeing, and in tanning. A high-quality ink has long been made from the Aleppo gall, found on oaks in the Middle East; it is one of a number of galls resembling nuts and called "gallnuts" or "nutgalls'. The larvae in galls is useful for a survival food and fishing bait.

Gallery

image:Eikengallen op mannelijke bloeiwijze.jpg|Neuroterus albipes forma laeviusculus

Footnotes

See also

• Bush coconut
• Mulga apple
• Oak apple
• Oak Marble gall
• Knopper gall
• Oak artichoke gall
• Rose bedeguar gall

Online references

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