GALL

Gall

Galls or cecidia are outgrowths on the surface of lifeforms. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues and can be caused by various parasites, from fungi and bacteria, to insects and mites. Plant galls are often highly organized 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 plant galls. In pathology, a gall is a raised sore on the skin, usually caused by chafing or rubbing.

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gall

Noun

  1. Bile, especially that of an animal; the greenish, profoundly bitter-tasting fluid found in bile ducts and gall bladders, structures associated with the liver.
  2. The gall bladder.
  3. Great misery or physical suffering, likened to the bitterest-tasting of substances.
  4. A bump-like imperfection resembling a gall.
  5. A feeling of exasperation.
  6. Impudence or brazenness; temerity, chutzpah.
  7. A sore or open wound caused by chafing, which may become infected, as with a blister.
  8. A sore on a horse caused by an ill-fitted or ill-adjusted saddle; a saddle sore.
  9. 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.

Noun (etymology 2)

  1. 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 .

Verb

  1. To trouble or bother.
  2. To harass, to harry, often with the intent to cause injury.
  3. To chafe, to rub or subject to friction; to create a sore on the skin.
  4. To exasperate.
  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.
  6. To scoff; to jeer.

Verb (etymology 2)

  1. To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts in dyeing.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: gall
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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