| galley | Origin: OE. Gale, galeie (cf. OF. Galie, galee, LL. Galea, LGr.; of unknown origin. 1. A vessel propelled by oars, whether having masts and sails or not; as: A large vessel for war and national purposes; common in the Middle Ages, and down to the 17th century. A name given by analogy to the Greek, Roman, and other ancient vessels propelled by oars. A light, open boat used on the Thames by customhouse officers, press gangs, and also for pleasure. One of the small boats carried by a man-of-war. The typical galley of the Mediterranean was from one hundred to two hundred feet long, often having twenty oars on each side. It had two or three masts rigged with lateen sails, carried guns at prow and stern, and a complement of one thousand to twelve hundred men, and was very efficient in mediaeval walfare. Galleons, galliots, galleasses, half galleys, and quarter galleys were all modifications of this type. 2. The cookroom or kitchen and cooking apparatus of a vessel; sometimes on merchant vessels called the caboose. 3. <chemistry> An oblong oven or muffle with a battery of retorts; a gallery furnace. 4. [F. Galee; the same word as E. Galley a vessel. An oblong tray of wood or brass, with upright sides, for holding type which has been set, or is to be made up, etc. A proof sheet taken from type while on a galley; a galley proof. Galley slave, a person condemned, often as a punishment for crime, to work at the oar on board a galley. "To toil like a galley slave." Galley slice, a sliding false bottom to a large galley. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
|---|---|
| galley-bird | <zoology> The European green woodpecker; also, the spotted woodpecker. Origin: Etymol. Uncertain. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| galley-worm | <zoology> A chilognath myriapod of the genus Iulus, and allied genera, having numerous short legs along the sides; a milliped or "thousand legs." See Chilognatha. Origin: Prob. So called because the numerous legs along the sides move rhythmically like the oars of a galley. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| gallfly | <zoology> An insect that deposits its eggs in plants, and occasions galls, especially. Any small hymenopteran of the genus Cynips and allied genera. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| gallic | <chemistry> Pertaining to, or containing, gallium. Origin: From Gallium. Pertaining to, or derived from, galls, nutgalls, and the like. <chemistry> Gallic acid, an organic acid, very widely distributed in the vegetable kingdom, being found in the free state in galls, tea, etc, and produced artificially. It is a white, crystalline substance, with an astringent taste, and is a strong reducing agent, as employed in photography. It is usually prepared from tannin, and both give a dark colour with iron salts, forming tannate and gallate of iron, which are the essential ingredients of common black ink. Structure: C6H2(HO)3.CO2H Origin: From Gall the excrescence. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| gallic acid | <chemical> Chemical name: Benzoic acid, 3,4,5-trihydroxy- (12 Dec 1998) |
| gallicanism | The principles, tendencies, or action of those, within the Roman Catholic Church in France, who (especially. In 1682) sought to restrict the papal authority in that country and increase the power of the national church. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Gallie's transplant | Narrow strips of the femoral fascia lata used for suture material. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Gallie, William | <person> Canadian surgeon, 1882-1959. See: Gallie's transplant. (05 Mar 2000) |
| galliform | <zoology> Like the Gallinae (or Galliformes) in structure. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Galliformes | An order of birds embracing the pheasant, turkey, and chicken. Origin: L. Gallus, a cock, + forma, form (05 Mar 2000) |
| gallin | <chemistry> A substance obtained by the reduction of gallein. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| gallinaceae | <zoology> Same as Gallinae. Origin: NL. See Gallinaceous. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| gallinacean | <ornithology> One of the Gallinae or gallinaceous birds. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| gallinaceous | <zoology> Resembling the domestic fowls and pheasants; of or pertaining to the Gallinae. Origin: L. Gallinaceus, fr. Gallina hen, fr. Gallus cock. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |