gir|dle

gir|dle¹ «GUR duhl», noun, verb, -dled, -dling.

–n.

1. a belt, sash, or cord worn around the waist.

2. Figurative. anything that surrounds or encloses: »

a girdle of trees around a pond.

3. a light corset worn about the hips and waist to support or shape the body.

4. a ring made around a tree trunk by cutting the bark: »

All of them eventually die, provided the girdle be carefully cut through the sap into the heartwood of the tree (J. Lorain).

5. Anatomy. a bony support for the limbs: »

The shoulder girdle supports the arms, and the pelvic girdle, the legs.

6. the rim around a diamond or other cut stone dividing upper and lower parts.

–v.t.

1. to surround; encircle: »

Wide roads girdle the city.

SYNONYM(S): encompass.

2. to cut away the bark so as to make a ring around (a tree or branch).

3. to put a girdle on or around.

╂[Old English gyrdel < gyrdan gird¹]

gir|dle² «GUR duhl», noun.

Scottish. a griddle.