Gird
(Gird) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Girt or Girded; p. pr. & vb. n. Girding.] [OE. girden, gurden, AS.
gyrdan; akin to OS. gurdian, D. gorden, OHG. gurten, G. gürten, Icel. gyrða, Sw. gjorda, Dan. giorde,
Goth. bigaírdan to begird, and prob. to E. yard an inclosure. Cf. Girth, n. & v., Girt, v. t.]
1. To encircle or bind with any flexible band.
2. To make fast, as clothing, by binding with a cord, girdle, bandage, etc.
3. To surround; to encircle, or encompass.
That Nyseian isle,
Girt with the River Triton.
Milton. 4. To clothe; to swathe; to invest.
I girded thee about with fine linen.
Ezek. xvi. 10.
The Son . . . appeared
Girt with omnipotence.
Milton. 5. To prepare; to make ready; to equip; as, to gird one's self for a contest.
Thou hast girded me with strength.
Ps. xviii. 39. To gird on, to put on; to fasten around or to one securely, like a girdle; as, to gird on armor or a sword.
Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.
1 Kings xx. 11. —
To gird up, to bind tightly with a girdle; to support and strengthen, as with a girdle.
He girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab.
1 Kings xviii. 46.
Gird up the loins of your mind.
1 Pet. i. 13. —
Girt up; prepared or equipped, as for a journey or for work, in allusion to the ancient custom of gathering
the long flowing garments into the girdle and tightening it before any exertion; hence, adjectively, eagerly
or constantly active; strenuous; striving. "A severer, more girt-up way of living." J. C. Shairp.
Girder
(Gird"er) n. [From Gird to sneer at.] One who girds; a satirist.
Girder
(Gird"er), n. [From Gird to encircle.]
1. One who, or that which, girds.
2. (Arch. & Engin.) A main beam; a stright, horizontal beam to span an opening or carry weight, such
as ends of floor beams, etc.; hence, a framed or built-up member discharging the same office, technically
called a compound girder. See Illusts. of Frame, and Doubleframed floor, under Double.
Bowstring girder, Box girder, etc. See under Bowstring, Box, etc. — Girder bridge. See under
Bridge. — Lattice girder, a girder consisting of longitudinal bars united by diagonal crossing bars. —
Half-lattice girder, a girder consisting of horizontal upper and lower bars connected by a series of
diagonal bars sloping alternately in opposite directions so as to divide the space between the bars into
a series of triangles. Knight. — Sandwich girder, a girder consisting of two parallel wooden beams,
between which is an iron plate, the whole clamped together by iron bolts.
Girding
(Gird"ing), n. That with which one is girded; a girdle.
Instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth.
Is. iii. 24.
