gall

Meaning

Noun

1. Impudence or brazenness; temerity, chutzpah.
2. A gallbladder.
3. Bile, especially that of an animal; the greenish, profoundly bitter-tasting fluid found in bile ducts and gall bladders, structures associated with the liver.
4. Great misery or physical suffering, likened to the bitterest-tasting of substances.

Verb

1. To chafe, to rub or subject to friction; to create a sore on the skin.
2. To bother or trouble.
3. To harass, to harry, often with the intent to cause injury.
4. To exasperate.
5. To cause pitting on a surface being cut from the friction between the two surfaces exceeding the bond of the material at a point.
6. (obsolete) To scoff; to jeer.

Verb

To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts in dyeing.

Synonyms

bile

gall bladder

vex

bitterness

nerve

chafe

fret

resentment

rile

audacity

rancor

impudence

irk

irritate

anger

💢

malice

impertinence

exasperate

nettle

insolence

saddle sore

peeve

aggravate

provoke

rancour

annoyance

get

miff

molest

bother

freshness

ruffle

pique

cheekiness

crust

jaundice

bilious

tease

temerity

brazenness

bug

🐛

spleen

abrasion

spite

vexation

indignation

infest

inflict

infuriate

interfere

interrupt

intrude

irascibility

ire

irritation

jam

jar

🫙

jealousy

josh

knead

landmark

madden

Marah

mash

nag

nark

niggle

nutgall

offence

offend

outrage

perturb

pinch

press

put off

rag

rally

rankle

rawness

scratch

smite

squeeze

stifle

tempt

trouble

upset

urine

weigh

barge in

gallnut

grate on

intrude on

jar on

scotch

cecidien

galla

hate

😡

cecidium

render sore

eat on

rope burn

fel

insect gall

mycocecidium

zoocecidium

brush burn

abrade

friction burn

abscess

acerbate

acrimony

afflict

affront

aggravation

ail

annoy

arrogance

badinage

banter

beset

bladder

brass

bravery

chaff

chafing

choler

commove

courage

crush

discommode

disorder

displease

disturb

dudgeon

enrage

envy

exacerbate

exasperation

face

faze

flaw

fray

goad

goiter

gravel

hackles

harass

harry

hassle

haze

hurt

incense

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡɔːl/

Etymology

table
From Middle English galle, from Old English ġealla, galla, from Proto-West Germanic *gallā, from Proto-Germanic *gallǭ.
The figurative senses (e.g., impudence, brazenness, chutzpah) are related to the literal sense (i.e., bile) via the lasting linguocultural effects of humorism, which governed Western medicine for many centuries before the advent of scientific medicine.
Related to Dutch gal, German Galle, Swedish galle, galla, Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ). Also remotely related with yellow.