Meanings
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1
noun
Rude boldness; nerve; cheek.
He had the gall to come back and ask for more food.
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2
verb
To annoy or irritate someone deeply.
It galls me that we lost the case.
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3
verb
To rub the skin sore through friction.
The stiff new boots galled his heels.
Thesaurus
Etymology
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 and gold.