girt

Meanings

Noun

• A horizontal structural member of post and beam architecture, typically attached to bridge two or more vertical members such as corner posts.

Verb

• To gird.
• To bind horizontally, as with a belt or girdle.
• To measure the girth of.
• Past of gird
• to capsize because of forces in the cable attaching it to another vessel.

Adjective

• Bound by a cable; used of a vessel so moored by two anchors that she swings against one of the cables by force of the current or tide.
• Alternate spelling of gurt in the sense 'great'.

Origin

• Alteration of girth.
• From Middle English girten ("gird, encircle").
• See gird.
• From Middle English girt, gert, a metathetic variant of gret. More at great.