gimlet

noun
/ˈɡɪm.lət/US

Etymology

From Middle English gimlet etc., from Old French guinbelet, guimbelet, guibelet, probably a diminutive of the Anglo-Norman wimble, a variation of guimble (“drill”), from the Middle Low German wiemel; continued in Modern French as gibelet. Cocktail either named after the tool, in reference to its penetrating effects, or British Navy surgeon Thomas Gimlette (1857–1943).

  1. derived from wiemel
  2. derived from wimble
  3. derived from guinbelet
  4. inherited from gimlet

Definitions

  1. A small screw-tipped tool for boring holes.

    • The box was close on every side, with a little door for me to go in and out, and a few gimlet holes to let in air.
    • I would find by the edge of that water / The collar-bone of a hare / Worn thin by the lapping of water, / And pierce it through with a gimlet and stare [...]
  2. A cocktail, usually made with gin and lime juice.

    • Yeah, a piece of advice — once you’re back in circulation, don’t keep topping off a lady’s vodka gimlet when she’s not looking.
    • By seven, dinner was under way, and a bottle of vodka gimlets and one of martinis were in the freezer, chilling.
  3. To pierce or bore holes (as if using a gimlet).

    • Then there was an awful silence. The lady gimleted us again one by one with her blue eyes.
  4. + 1 more definition
    1. To turn round (an anchor) as if turning a gimlet.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for gimlet. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA