gorget
nounUK /ˈɡɔːdʒɪt/ · US /ˈɡoɹ.d͡ʒɪt/
Etymology From Middle English gorget, from Old French gorgete, from gorge (“throat”).
8 senses
- 1A piece of armour protecting the throat and/or the upper…
- 2A crescent-shaped ornamental metal plate suspended…
- 3A type of women's clothing covering the neck and breast…
- 4An ornament for the neck; a necklace, ornamental collar…
- 5A cutting instrument used in lithotomy.
- 6A grooved instrument used in performing various…
- 7A crescent-shaped coloured patch on the neck of a bird or mammal.
- 8A hake caught in a net set for other fish.
Historical A piece of armour protecting the throat and/or the upper part of the chest.
- About his neck a threefold gorget, / As rough as trebled leathern target1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto II.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:
- Unfix the gorget's iron clasp.1805, Walter Scott, “(please specify the page)”, in The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A Poem, London: […] [James Ballantyne] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], and A[rchibald] Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
3 more examples
- Hawkmoon whipped his sword from the scabbard, leaped forward, and drove the blade into the throat of the warrior just below his gorget.1968, Michael Moorcock, The Mad God's Amulet, Gollancz, published 2003, page 209:
- Renly lifted his chin to allow Brienne to fasten his gorget in place.1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 500:
- I heard he presented Hygd with a gorget, the priceless torque that the prince's daughter Wealhtheow, had given him.1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 69:
Historical A crescent-shaped ornamental metal plate suspended around the neck from the crescent's points by a length of chain or ribbon, used to indicate rank or authority and was worn as part of a dress military uniform by officers.
Historical A type of women's clothing covering the neck and breast; a wimple.
An ornament for the neck; a necklace, ornamental collar, torque etc.
A grooved instrument used in performing various operations; called also blunt gorget.
Biology, Natural sciences, Zoology A crescent-shaped coloured patch on the neck of a bird or mammal.
- There was […] the golden-winged woodpecker, with his crimson crest, his broad black gorget, and splendid plumage […]1917, Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow:
- Derived terms
- gorget hummer, gorgeted