We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Find out more

Subscriber login

Library card login

Other

Login Athens/Access Management Federation

X Close menu

Dictionary Language resources

gall1

Pronunciation: /gɔːl/

Translate gall | into German | into Italian

Definition of gall

noun

[mass noun]

1bold and impudent behaviour:the bank had the gall to demand a fee

2the contents of the gall bladder; bile (proverbial for its bitterness).
[count noun] an animal’s gall bladder: the trade in animal parts such as bear galls
used to refer to something bitter or cruel:accept life’s gall without blaming somebody else

Origin:

Old English gealla (denoting bile), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch gal, German Galle 'gall', from an Indo-European root shared by Greek kholē and Latin fel 'bile'