What does "gall" mean?
Impudence or brazenness; temerity; chutzpah.
Gall
/ɡɔːl/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Impudence or brazenness; temerity; chutzpah.
- Grammar: gall is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: bile, ablate, abrade, abrade.
- Useful contrasts: calm, diffidence, humility.
- Usage evidence: For gall bladder surgery, go down this hall and take a right.
How to use "gall"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "gall" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "gall" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "gall" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 Impudence or brazenness; temerity; chutzpah. uncountable
"“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."
- 2 A sore on a horse caused by an ill-fitted or ill-adjusted saddle; a saddle sore. countable
"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."
- 3 A blister or tumor-like growth found on the surface of plants, caused by various pathogens, especially the burrowing of insect larvae into the living tissues, such as that of the common oak gall wasp (Cynips quercusfolii).
"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."
- 4 the trait of being rude and impertinent; inclined to take liberties wordnet
- 5 A gallbladder. archaic, countable
"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."
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 A sore or open wound caused by chafing, which may become infected, as with a blister. countable
"And remember perfectly well his revolving eyes and his awkwardness, / And remember putting plasters on the galls of his neck and ankles;"
- 7 A bump-like imperfection resembling a gall.
"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."
- 8 a digestive juice secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder; aids in the digestion of fats wordnet
- 9 Bile, especially that of an animal; the greenish, profoundly bitter-tasting fluid found in bile ducts and gall bladders, structures associated with the liver. archaic, uncountable
- 10 A feeling of exasperation. figuratively, uncountable
"Thou ſhalt be leader of this thouſand horſe, Whoſe foming galle with rage and high diſdaine, Haue ſworne the death of wicked Tamburlaine."
- 11 a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will wordnet
- 12 Great misery or physical suffering, likened to the bitterest-tasting of substances. figuratively, uncountable
"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;"
- 13 A pit on a surface being cut caused by the friction between the two surfaces exceeding the bond of the material at a point. countable
- 14 abnormal swelling of plant tissue caused by insects or microorganisms or injury wordnet
- 15 a skin sore caused by chafing wordnet
- 16 an open sore on the back of a horse caused by ill-fitting or badly adjusted saddle wordnet
Verb
- 1 To chafe, to rub or subject to friction; to create a sore on the skin. ergative
"[…] he went awkwardly in these clothes at first: wearing the drawers was very awkward to him, and the sleeves of the waistcoat galled his shoulders and the inside of his arms; but a little easing them where he complained they hurt him, and using himself to them, he took to them at length very well."
- 2 To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts in dyeing. transitive
"Raw silk is not galled, it is dyed at once in the black without any preparation : the liquor should be hot"
- 3 irritate or vex wordnet
- 4 To bother or trouble. figuratively, transitive
"It is as lack of breath or bread: life hath no grief more galling."
- 5 become or make sore by or as if by rubbing wordnet
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 To harass, to harry, often with the intent to cause injury. figuratively, transitive
"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."
- 7 To exasperate. figuratively, transitive
"Metrinko was hungry, but he was galled by how self-congratulatory his captors seemed, how generous and noble and proudly Islamic."
- 8 To cause pitting on a surface being cut from the friction between the two surfaces exceeding the bond of the material at a point. transitive
"Improper cooling and a dull milling cutter on titanium can gall the surface."
- 9 To scoff; to jeer. intransitive, obsolete, rare
"I have seen you gleeking and galling at this gentleman twice or thrice. You thought, because he could not speak English in the native garb, he could not therefore handle an English cudgel"
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
Example
"For gall bladder surgery, go down this hall and take a right."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "gall"?
Common synonyms include: bile, ablate, abrade, abrade, abrase, abrasion.
How do you use "gall" in a sentence?
For gall bladder surgery, go down this hall and take a right.
How do you pronounce "gall"?
Pronounced /ɡɔːl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English galle, from Old English ġealla, galla, from Proto-West Germanic *gallā, from Proto-Germanic *gallǭ. The figurative senses (e.g., impudence, brazenness, chutzpah) are related to the literal sense (i.e., bile) via the lasting linguocultural effects of humorism, which governed Western medicine for many centuries before the advent of scientific medicine. Related to Dutch gal, German Galle, Swedish galle, galla, Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ). Also remotely related with yellow and gold.
Etymology 2
From Middle English galle, from Old English gealla (“a fretted spot on the skin”), from Proto-West Germanic *gallō, from Proto-Germanic *gallô (“infirmity, swelling, lesion”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English galle, from Old French galle, from Latin galla (“oak-apple”).
Etymology 4
* As an English, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish surname, of Celtic origin, from Gall (“foreigner”). This is in turn from Latin Gallus, which has borrowings (many of which are surnames) in several European languages, such as Czech Havel, Polish Gawel. * As a Hungarian surname, variant of Gál, itself from the Latin word.