What does "gill" mean?
A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.
Gill
/ɡɪl/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.
- Grammar: gill is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: branchia, lamella, adolescent stream, arroyo.
- Useful contrasts: lung, mass, pore.
- Usage evidence: Gill usually acts most efficiently.
How to use "gill"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "gill" 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
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
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 "gill" 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
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "gill" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "gill" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "gill" 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.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "branchia" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "gill", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.
"Fishes […] perform their respiration under water by the gills."
- 2 A drink measure for spirits and wine, approximately a quarter of a pint, but varying regionally.
- 3 A rivulet, small stream. British
- 4 A two-wheeled frame for transporting timber.
- 5 A female ferret.
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 Someone connected with Gillingham Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.
- 7 respiratory organ of aquatic animals that breathe oxygen dissolved in water wordnet
- 8 A gill slit or gill cover.
"Gill nets are designed to catch a fish by the gills."
- 9 A measuring jug holding a quarter or half a pint. British, archaic
- 10 A ravine. British
- 11 A promiscuous woman; harlot, wanton. obsolete
- 12 any of the radiating leaflike spore-producing structures on the underside of the cap of a mushroom or similar fungus wordnet
- 13 One of the radial folds on the underside of the cap of a mushroom, the surface of which bears the spore-producing organs.
- 14 A unit of measure equal to 4 US fluid ounces (half a cup, a quarter of a US pint), approximately 118 milliliters. US, dated
- 15 A prostitute. obsolete
"Gill comes from the Knight, that did so seek / To gaine her love; she's hir'd for a week."
- 16 a United States liquid unit equal to 4 fluid ounces wordnet
- 17 The fleshy flap that hangs below the beak of a fowl; a wattle.
- 18 a British imperial capacity unit (liquid or dry) equal to 5 fluid ounces or 142.066 cubic centimeters wordnet
- 19 The flesh under or about the chin; a wattle. figuratively
"dropsy fills you to the gills"
- 20 One of the combs of closely ranged steel pins which divide the ribbons of flax fiber or wool into fewer parallel filaments.
Verb
- 1 To remove the gills from a fish as part of gutting and cleaning it.
"As we had fish home in the icebox, when Bill led the fish up alongside, I leaned over the combing, gilled the fish with my fingers, slid out the hook and let go. The bass lay there for a moment, tired from the arch of the rod and the pull of the line."
- 2 To act as a prostitute. obsolete
"Comme proprement le fine of my Designs dey make; / Dam gilling Whore / Et Louis d'or"
- 3 To catch (a fish) in a gillnet. transitive
"Owing to the peculiar shape of the pompano and the relatively large mesh in the pompano gill nets, the fish are not caught by being actually gilled."
- 4 To be or become entangled in a gillnet. intransitive
"Since the fine threads of the net usually are caught under the gill covers of the fish they are said to be "gilled.""
Proper Noun
- 1 A Scottish and Northern English habitational surname from Old Norse for someone who lived near a gill.
- 2 A Scottish and Irish surname from Scottish Gaelic [in turn originating as a patronymic], an alternate anglicization of Mac an Ghoill (McGill).
- 3 A diminutive of the male given names Giles, Julian, or William, of medieval usage.
- 4 A diminutive of the female given name Gillian, variant of Jill.
"each Jack with his Gill"
- 5 A male given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage.
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 A locale in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Weld County, Colorado; named for early landowner William H. Gill.
- 7 A locale in the United States:; A township in Sullivan County, Indiana.
- 8 A locale in the United States:; A township in Clay County, Kansas.
- 9 A locale in the United States:; A town in Franklin County, Massachusetts; named for Massachusetts politician Moses Gill.
- 10 A locale in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Harrison County, Texas.
- 11 A locale in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Lincoln County, West Virginia; named for an early postmaster.
- 12 A locale in the United States:; A ghost town in Harding County, South Dakota; named for early postmaster Carl M. Gilberg.
- 13 A surname from Punjabi from ਗਿੱਲ (gilla).
Example
"Gill usually acts most efficiently."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "gill"?
Common synonyms include: branchia, lamella, adolescent stream, arroyo, beck, bellows.
How do you use "gill" in a sentence?
Gill usually acts most efficiently.
How do you pronounce "gill"?
Pronounced /ɡɪl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English gille, gylle (“gill”), of North Germanic origin, akin to Danish gælle, Swedish gäl, Norwegian gjelle, and further to Old Norse gjǫlnar (“lips”), which also may have had the meaning of "gills" (based on Old Danish fiskegæln (“gills”)). The Old Norse word has been suggested as deriving from Proto-Germanic *gelunō (“jaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel-, which would make it root-cognate to Ancient Greek χελύνη (khelúnē, “lip, jaw”), χεῖλος (kheîlos, “lip”). Displaced native Old English ċīe.
Etymology 2
From Middle English gille, from Old French gille (“a wine measure”), from Medieval Latin gillo (“earthenware jar”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English gille, from Old Norse gil.
Etymology 4
Uncertain.
Etymology 5
Clipping of gillian, from the female name Gillian.
Etymology 6
* As an English surname, converged from variants of Giles (sometimes through Dutch), Julian, and William. * As a northern English surname, from Middle English gil (“ravine, glen”), from Old Norse gil. The Old Norse is also a source of the Norwegian surname. * As an Irish and Scottish Gaelic surname, variant of McGill. * Also as an Irish surname, variant of Gall. * As a Jewish/Israeli given name, as well as surname, from Hebrew גיל (“joy”). * As a German surname, variant of Gilger. * As a Sikh Punjabi surname originating in India, from ਗਿੱਲ (gill, “moisture”).