gird

verb

1. (transitive)To bind with a flexible rope or cord.

   “The fasces were girt about with twine in bundles large.”

   “We heere create thee the firſt Duke of Suffolke, / And girt thee with the Sword. Coſin of Yorke”

   “Gird thy sword vpon thy thigh, O most mightie: with thy glory and thy maiestie.”

2. (transitive)To encircle with, or as if with a belt.

   “a castle girded with a moat”

   “The lady girt herself with silver chain, from which she hung a golden shear.”

   “And he put vpon him the coate, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the Ephod vpon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the Ephod, and bound it vnto him therewith.”

   “Australia's sons, let us rejoice, / For we are young and free / We've golden soil and wealth for toil / Our home is girt by sea”

   “It took me back across the dim gulf of ages to some happy home in dead Imperial Kôr, where this winsome lady girt about with beauty had lived and died, and dying taken her last-born with her to the tomb.”

3. (reflexive, transitive)To prepare (oneself) for an action.

   “Associate your selues, O ye people, and yee shalbe broken in pieces; and giue eare all ye of farre countreys: gird your selues, and ye shalbe broken in pieces; gird your selues, and ye shalbe broken in pieces.”

   “The poet is not trying to conform to any of the old standards of behavior. She is instead focusing her rage and girding herself for battle.”

   “[…] I was intrigued by the notion of ‘virtual beating’, so I entered the words in the Mamma search engine. I girded myself for the sleaziest sites on the net, the kind that advertise the video of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee uncut, […]”

   “The remarks came just days after Putin appeared to be girding Russians for a protracted war in Ukraine, saying that his military operation could be a “long-term process”.”

4. (intransitive)(of a vessel towing another) To be pulled on sideways by its towline, putting it at risk of capsizing.

   “On 19 July 2009, the tug North Arm Venture was towing the barge North Arm Express, loaded with fuel and deck cargo, from Toba Inlet to Sechelt Inlet. The tug girded and capsized at approximately 1250 Pacific Daylight Time while making a turn to port at the entrance to Sechelt Rapids .... Girding is defined as a situation where a vessel experiences athwartship forces from its towline. This situation can lead to a capsizing or foundering.”

5. (transitive)To jeer at.

   “Being moved, he will not spare to gird the gods.”

6. (intransitive)To jeer.

   “Men of all sorts take a pride to gird at me.”

noun

1. A sarcastic remark.

   “I thank thee for that gird, good Tranio.”

2. A stroke with a rod or switch.
3. A severe spasm; a twinge; a pang.

   “Conscience […] is freed from many fearful girds and twinges which the atheist feels.”