GINGER

ginger, gingery

(adjective) (used especially of hair or fur) having a bright orange-brown color; ā€œa man with gingery hair and bright blue eyesā€; ā€œa ginger kittenā€

pep, peppiness, ginger

(noun) liveliness and energy; ā€œthis tonic is guaranteed to give you more pepā€

ginger, gingerroot

(noun) pungent rhizome of the common ginger plant; used fresh as a seasoning especially in Asian cookery

ginger, powdered ginger

(noun) dried ground gingerroot

ginger

(noun) perennial plants having thick branching aromatic rhizomes and leafy reedlike stems

ginger

(verb) add ginger to in order to add flavor; ā€œginger the soupā€

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

ginger (countable and uncountable, plural gingers)

The pungent aromatic rhizome of a tropical Asian herb, Zingiber officinale, used as a spice and as a stimulant and acarminative.

The plant that produces this rhizome.

Other species belonging to the same family, Zingiberaceae, especially those of the genus Zingiber

A reddish-brown color.

(colloquial, often derogatory, countable) A person with reddish-brown hair; a redhead.

(colloquial, uncountable) Vitality, vigour, liveliness (of character).

Adjective

ginger (comparative more ginger, superlative most ginger)

(of hair) Of a reddish-brown colour.

Verb

ginger (third-person singular simple present gingers, present participle gingering, simple past and past participle gingered)

To add ginger to.

To enliven, to spice (up).

To apply ginger to the anus of a horse to encourage it to carry its tail high and move in a lively fashion.

(Nigeria, transitive) To inspire (someone); to give a little boost to.

Etymology 2

Adjective

ginger (comparative more ginger, superlative most ginger)

Sensitive, delicate.

Verb

ginger (third-person singular simple present gingers, present participle gingering, simple past and past participle gingered)

To move gingerly, very careful and cautious.

Etymology 3

Noun

ginger (plural gingers)

(UK, Cockney rhyming slang) A homosexual.

Adjective

ginger (not comparable)

(UK, Cockney rhyming slang) Homosexual.

Anagrams

• Gering, erging, nigger

Etymology

Proper noun

Ginger

A female given name from English and nickname.

(rare) A male nickname.

A given name for animals having ginger- or orange-coloured fur or feathers.

Anagrams

• Gering, erging, nigger

Source: Wiktionary


Gin"ger, n. Etym: [OE. ginger, gingever, gingivere, OF. gengibre, gingimbre, F. gingembre, L. zingiber, zingiberi, fr. Gr. zenjebil, fr. Skr. , prop., hornshaped; horn + vƫra body.]

1. (Bot.)

Definition: A plant of the genus Zingiber, of the East and West Indies. The species most known is Z. officinale.

2. The hot and spicy rootstock of Zingiber officinale, which is much used in cookery and in medicine. Ginger beer or ale, a mild beer impregnated with ginger.

– Ginger cordial, a liquor made from ginger, raisins, lemon rind, and water, and sometimes whisky or brandy.

– Ginger pop. See Ginger beer (above).

– Ginger wine, wine impregnated with ginger.

– Wild ginger (Bot.), an American herb (Asarum Canadense) with two reniform leaves and a long, cordlike rootstock which has a strong taste of ginger.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

22 February 2025

ANALYSIS

(noun) the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., ā€˜the father of the brideā€™ instead of ā€˜the brideā€™s fatherā€™


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Coffee Trivia

Espresso is both a coffee beverage and a brewing method that originated in Italy. When making an espresso, a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure forces through finely-ground coffee beans. It has more caffeine per unit volume than most coffee beverages. Its smaller serving size will take three shots to equal a mug of standard brewed coffee.

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