GIRDLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does girdle mean? 

• GIRDLE (noun)
  The noun GIRDLE has 3 senses:

1. an encircling or ringlike structure

2. a band of material around the waist that strengthens a skirt or trousers

3. a woman's close-fitting foundation garment

  Familiarity information: GIRDLE used as a noun is uncommon.

• GIRDLE (verb)
  The verb GIRDLE has 2 senses:

1. cut a girdle around so as to kill by interrupting the circulation of water and nutrients

2. put a girdle on or around

  Familiarity information: GIRDLE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GIRDLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An encircling or ringlike structure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("girdle" is a kind of...):

skeletal structure (any structure created by the skeleton of an organism)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "girdle"):

pectoral girdle (a skeletal support to which the forelimbs of vertebrates are attached)

hip; pelvic arch; pelvic girdle; pelvis (the structure of the vertebrate skeleton supporting the lower limbs in humans and the hind limbs or corresponding parts in other vertebrates)

Derivation:

girdle (cut a girdle around so as to kill by interrupting the circulation of water and nutrients)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A band of material around the waist that strengthens a skirt or trousers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cincture; girdle; sash; waistband; waistcloth

Hypernyms ("girdle" is a kind of...):

band (a thin flat strip of flexible material that is worn around the body or one of the limbs (especially to decorate the body))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "girdle"):

cummerbund (a broad pleated sash worn as formal dress with a tuxedo)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A woman's close-fitting foundation garment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

corset; girdle; stays

Hypernyms ("girdle" is a kind of...):

foundation; foundation garment (a woman's undergarment worn to give shape to the contours of the body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "girdle"):

panty girdle (a woman's undergarment that combines a girdle and panties)

Derivation:

girdle (put a girdle on or around)

• GIRDLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they girdle    ... he / she / it girdles   
Past simple: girdled   
Past participle: girdled   
-ing form: girdling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cut a girdle around so as to kill by interrupting the circulation of water and nutrients

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

deaden; girdle

Context example:

girdle the plant

Hypernyms (to "girdle" is one way to...):

incise (make an incision into by carving or cutting)

Domain category:

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

girdle (an encircling or ringlike structure)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Put a girdle on or around

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

gird; girdle

Context example:

gird your loins

Hypernyms (to "girdle" is one way to...):

border; environ; ring; skirt; surround (extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

girdle (a woman's close-fitting foundation garment)

 Context examples 

The tailor put on the girdle, and resolved to go forth into the world, because he thought his workshop was too small for his valour.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

As soon as the sun had climbed above our girdle of trees, it fell with all its force upon the clearing and drank up the vapours at a draught.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

That bag at his girdle is full of the teeth that he drew at Winchester fair.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mutation of the gene is associated with limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B, distal myopathy with anterior tibial onset, and Miyoshi myopathy.

(DYSF wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Any of the joints within the pelvic girdle.

(Joint of the Pelvic Girdle, NCI Thesaurus)

Examples include Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Becker's muscular dystrophy, Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy.

(Muscular Dystrophy, NCI Thesaurus)

Surely he will not be long now: it is just ten (looking at a little gold watch she drew from her girdle).

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He offered to draw her toward him again, but it was no more than a tentative muscular movement of the girdling arm, for he feared that he might be greedy.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

An autoimmune disease characterized by weakness and fatigability of proximal muscles, particularly of the pelvic girdle, lower extremities, trunk, and shoulder girdle.

(Lambert Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

It most often affects the large axial muscles of the trunk and limb girdles.

(Dystonia, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)