adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Hanging down, like gyves or fetters. not-comparable, obsolete, poetic

   "his stockings fouled, / Ungartered and down-gyved to his ankle,"

Synonyms

All synonyms

danglinghangingpendulous

Example

More examples

"his stockings fouled, / Ungartered and down-gyved to his ankle,"

Etymology

From down (“from a higher position to a lower one”) + gyved (“to shackle, fetter, chain”). A Shakespearan coinage.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.