Meanings
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1
noun
a respiratory organ by which fish and many other aquatic animals extract dissolved oxygen from water
The trout pumps water across each gill to extract oxygen.
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2
noun
one of the thin radiating plates on the underside of a mushroom cap, where spores are produced
The mushroom's pale gills released a fine cloud of spores.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Middle English gile, probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish gäl and Old Norse gjǫlnar, lips or jaws. The mushroom sense arose by resemblance between its radiating plates and a fish's breathing structures. The unrelated liquid-measure noun is pronounced with an initial j sound.