*gau*

(Railroad) A wider distance between the rails than the “standard” gauge of four feet eight inches and a half. See Gauge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. To make a (steel) ship's hull nonmagnetic by applying an opposing magnetic field. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. To remove irregular magnetization in (the electron gun of a cathode-ray tube); -- used to improve picture quality, especially in computer monitors. [ PJC ]

n. the process of making a (steel) ship's hull nonmagnetic by producing an opposing magnetic field. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ F. ] 1. Left handed; hence, awkward; clumsy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Geom.) Winding; twisted; warped; -- applied to curves and surfaces. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Lacking grace and perceptivity in social situations; crude; tactless; socially inept.
Syn. -- graceless; unsophisticated. [ PJC ]

4. (Chem.) Not planar; -- of molecules or molecular conformations. [ PJC ]

n. an impolite manner that is vulgar and lacking tact or refinement.
Syn. -- crudeness, crudity. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ F. ] An awkward action; clumsiness; boorishness. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n., pl. Gauchos /plu> [ Sp. ] One of the native inhabitants of the South American pampas, of Spanish-American descent. They live mostly by rearing cattle. Hence, a South American cowboy, especially on the pampas. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A member of an Indian population, somewhat affected by Spanish blood, in the archipelagoes off the Chilean coast. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OE. gaude jest, trick, gaudi bead of a rosary, fr. L. gaudium joy, gladness. See Joy. ] 1. Trick; jest; sport. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Deceit; fraud; artifice; device. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An ornament; a piece of worthless finery; a trinket. “An idle gaud.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Cf. F. se gaudir to rejoice, fr. L. gaudere. See Gaud, n. ] To sport or keep festival. [ Obs. ] “Gauding with his familiars. ” [ Obs. ] Sir T. North. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Gauded; p. pr. & vb. n. Gauding. ] To bedeck gaudily; to decorate with gauds or showy trinkets or colors; to paint. [ Obs. ] “Nicely gauded cheeks.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Gaudy, a feast. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ pr. n. [ L. ] The name of a Latin song originating in the thirteenth century, celebrating the joy of youth as students in a university, and suggesting that they take advantage of youth before they succomb to inevitable old age and death. It is still sung by students, often with verses altered to include themes pertinent to particular schools.



Gaudeamus igitur Let us rejoice therefore
Juvenes dum sumus While we are young.
Post jucundum juventutem After a pleasant youth
Post molestam senectutem After a troublesome old age
Nos habebit humus. The earth will have us.

Ubi sunt qui ante nos Where are they
In mundo fuere? Who were in the world before us?
Vadite ad superos You may cross over to heaven
Transite in inferos You may go to hell
Hos si vis videre. If you wish to see them.

Vita nostra brevis est Our life is brief
Brevi finietur. It will be finished shortly.
Venit mors velociter Death comes quickly
Rapit nos atrociter Atrociously, it snatches us away.
Nemini parcetur. No one is spared.

Vivat academia Long live the academy!
Vivant professores Long live the teachers!
Vivat membrum quodlibet Long live each male student!
Vivat membra quaelibet Long live each female student!
Semper sint in flore. May they always flourish!

Vivant omnes virgines Long live all maidens
Faciles, formosae. Easy and beautiful!
Vivant et mulieres Long live mature women also,
Tenerae amabiles Tender and loveable
Bonae laboriosae. And full of good labor.

Vivant et republica Long live the State
et qui illam regit. And the One who rules it!
Vivat nostra civitas, Long live our City
Maecenatum caritas And the charity of benefactors
Quae nos hic protegit. Which protects us here!

Pereat tristitia, Let sadness perish!
Pereant osores. Let haters perish!
Pereat diabolus, Let the devil perish!
Quivis antiburschius Let whoever is against our school
Atque irrisores. Who laughs at it, perish!

(Latin verses by C. W. Kindeleben 1781) [ PJC ]

n. Finery; ornaments; ostentatious display. [ R. ] “Tarnished gaudery.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Joyful; showy. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a gaudy manner. Guthrie. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being gaudy. Whitlock. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Gaudy. “Gaudish ceremonies.” Bale. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Destitute of ornament. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Gaudier superl. Gauidiest. ] 1. Ostentatiously fine; showy; gay, but tawdry or meretricious. [ 1913 Webster ]

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Gay; merry; festal. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let's have one other gaudy night. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Gaudies /plu> [ See Gaud, n. ] One of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster is recited. [ Obs. ] Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A feast or festival; -- called also gaud-day and gaudy day. [ Oxford Univ. ] Conybeare. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. or n. [ OE. gaude grene. ] Light green. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ F. gaufrer to figure cloth, velvet, and other stuffs, fr. gaufre honeycomb, waffle; of German origin. See Waffle, Wafer, and cf. Goffer, Gopher an animal. ] To plait, crimp, or flute; to goffer, as lace. See Goffer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mode of plaiting or fluting. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gauffering iron, a kind of fluting iron for fabrics. --
Gauffering press (Flower Manuf.), a press for crimping the leaves and petals into shape. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ See Gopher. ] (Zool.) A gopher, esp. the pocket gopher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Written also gage. ] 1. A measure; a standard of measure; an instrument to determine dimensions, distance, or capacity; a standard. [ 1913 Webster ]

This plate must be a gauge to file your worm and groove to equal breadth by. Moxon. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is not in our hands any fixed gauge of minds. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Measure; dimensions; estimate. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mach. & Manuf.) Any instrument for ascertaining or regulating the dimensions or forms of things; a templet or template; as, a button maker's gauge. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Physics) Any instrument or apparatus for measuring the state of a phenomenon, or for ascertaining its numerical elements at any moment; -- usually applied to some particular instrument; as, a rain gauge; a steam gauge. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Naut.) (a) Relative positions of two or more vessels with reference to the wind; as, a vessel has the weather gauge of another when on the windward side of it, and the lee gauge when on the lee side of it. (b) The depth to which a vessel sinks in the water. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The distance between the rails of a railway. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The standard gauge of railroads in most countries is four feet, eight and one half inches. Wide, or broad, gauge, in the United States, is six feet; in England, seven feet, and generally any gauge exceeding standard gauge. Any gauge less than standard gauge is now called narrow gauge. It varies from two feet to three feet six inches. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Plastering) The quantity of plaster of Paris used with common plaster to accelerate its setting. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Building) That part of a shingle, slate, or tile, which is exposed to the weather, when laid; also, one course of such shingles, slates, or tiles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gauge of a carriage,
car, etc., the distance between the wheels; -- ordinarily called the track. --
Gauge cock, a stop cock used as a try cock for ascertaining the height of the water level in a steam boiler. --
Gauge concussion (Railroads), the jar caused by a car-wheel flange striking the edge of the rail. --
Gauge glass, a glass tube for a water gauge. --
Gauge lathe, an automatic lathe for turning a round object having an irregular profile, as a baluster or chair round, to a templet or gauge. --
Gauge point, the diameter of a cylinder whose altitude is one inch, and contents equal to that of a unit of a given measure; -- a term used in gauging casks, etc. --
Gauge rod, a graduated rod, for measuring the capacity of barrels, casks, etc. --
Gauge saw, a handsaw, with a gauge to regulate the depth of cut. Knight. --
Gauge stuff, a stiff and compact plaster, used in making cornices, moldings, etc., by means of a templet. --
Gauge wheel, a wheel at the forward end of a plow beam, to determine the depth of the furrow. --
Joiner's gauge, an instrument used to strike a line parallel to the straight side of a board, etc. --
Printer's gauge, an instrument to regulate the length of the page. --
Rain gauge, an instrument for measuring the quantity of rain at any given place. --
Salt gauge, or
Brine gauge, an instrument or contrivance for indicating the degree of saltness of water from its specific gravity, as in the boilers of ocean steamers. --
Sea gauge, an instrument for finding the depth of the sea. --
Siphon gauge, a glass siphon tube, partly filled with mercury, -- used to indicate pressure, as of steam, or the degree of rarefaction produced in the receiver of an air pump or other vacuum; a manometer. --
Sliding gauge. (Mach.) (a) A templet or pattern for gauging the commonly accepted dimensions or shape of certain parts in general use, as screws, railway-car axles, etc. (b) A gauge used only for testing other similar gauges, and preserved as a reference, to detect wear of the working gauges. (c) (Railroads) See Note under Gauge, n., 5. --
Star gauge (Ordnance), an instrument for measuring the diameter of the bore of a cannon at any point of its length. --
Steam gauge, an instrument for measuring the pressure of steam, as in a boiler. --
Tide gauge, an instrument for determining the height of the tides. --
Vacuum gauge, a species of barometer for determining the relative elasticities of the vapor in the condenser of a steam engine and the air. --
Water gauge. (a) A contrivance for indicating the height of a water surface, as in a steam boiler; as by a gauge cock or glass. (b) The height of the water in the boiler. --
Wind gauge, an instrument for measuring the force of the wind on any given surface; an anemometer. --
Wire gauge, a gauge for determining the diameter of wire or the thickness of sheet metal; also, a standard of size. See under Wire. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Gauged p. pr. & vb. n. Gauging [ OF. gaugier, F. jauger, cf. OF. gauge gauge, measuring rod, F. jauge; of uncertain origin; perh. fr. an assumed L. qualificare to determine the qualities of a thing (see Qualify); but cf. also F. jalon a measuring stake in surveying, and E. gallon. ] [ Written also gage. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To measure or determine with a gauge. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To measure or to ascertain the contents or the capacity of, as of a pipe, barrel, or keg. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mech.) To measure the dimensions of, or to test the accuracy of the form of, as of a part of a gunlock. [ 1913 Webster ]

The vanes nicely gauged on each side. Derham. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To draw into equidistant gathers by running a thread through it, as cloth or a garment. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To measure the capacity, character, or ability of; to estimate; to judge of. [ 1913 Webster ]

You shall not gauge me
By what we do to-night. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being gauged. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. a. Tested or measured by, or conformed to, a gauge. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gauged brick, brick molded, rubbed, or cut to an exact size and shape, for arches or ornamental work. --
Gauged mortar. See Gauge stuff, under Gauge, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who gauges; an officer whose business it is to ascertain the contents of casks. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office of a gauger. [ 1913 Webster ]

. See Gauge rod, under Gauge, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. Gaule, fr. L. Gallia, fr. Gallus a Gaul. ] 1. The Anglicized form of Gallia, which in the time of the Romans included France and Upper Italy (Transalpine and Cisalpine Gaul). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A native or inhabitant of Gaul. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to ancient France, or Gaul; Gallic. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Norw. gald hard ground, Icel. gald hard snow. ] (Geol.) A series of beds of clay and marl in the South of England, between the upper and lower greensand of the Cretaceous period. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. ] (Bot.) A genus of ericaceous shrubs with evergreen foliage, and, often, edible berries. It includes the American winter-green (Gaultheria procumbens), and the larger-fruited salal of Northwestern America (Gaultheria Shallon). [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. stupid. Oposite of smart. [ British informal ]
Syn. -- gormless. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak. ] Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. “The gaunt mastiff.” Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

A mysterious but visible pestilence, striding gaunt and fleshless across our land. Nichols. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mil.) See Gantlet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. gantelet, dim. of gant glove, LL. wantus, of Teutonic origin; cf. D. want, Sw. & Dan. vante, Icel. vöttr, for vantr. ] 1. A glove of such material that it defends the hand from wounds. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The gauntlet of the Middle Ages was sometimes of chain mail, sometimes of leather partly covered with plates, scales, etc., of metal sewed to it, and, in the 14th century, became a glove of small steel plates, carefully articulated and covering the whole hand except the palm and the inside of the fingers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A long glove, covering the wrist. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) A rope on which hammocks or clothes are hung for drying. [ 1913 Webster ]

To take up the gauntlet, to accept a challenge. --
To throw down the gauntlet, to offer or send a challenge. The gauntlet or glove was thrown down by the knight challenging, and was taken up by the one who accepted the challenge; -- hence the phrases. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Wearing a gauntlet. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a gaunt manner; meagerly.

{ } n. [ F. chantier, LL. cantarium, fr. L. canterius trellis, sort of frame. ] 1. A frame for supporting barrels in a cellar or elsewhere. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Engin.) A scaffolding or frame carrying a crane or other structure. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Native name. ] (Zool.) An East Indian species of wild cattle (Bibos gauris), of large size and an untamable disposition. [ Spelt also gour. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To gaze; to stare. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ So named after Karl F. Gauss, a German mathematician. ] 1. (Elec.) The C.G.S. unit of density of magnetic field, equal to a field of one line of force per square centimeter, being thus adopted as an international unit at Paris in 1900; sometimes used as a unit of intensity of magnetic field. It was previously suggested as a unit of magnetomotive force. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. Karl F. Gauss, a German mathematician. [ PJC ]

‖n. (Elec.) The intensity of a magnetic field expressed in C.G.S. units, or gausses. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

prop. adj. of or pertaining to Gauss{ 2 }; as, a Gaussian distribution. [ WordNet 1.5 ]