A Dictionary of the English Language
                        A Digital Edition of the 1755 Classic by Samuel Johnson
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Geld

View Scan · View Transcription · from page 890

View Scan · View Transcription · from page 890

To Geld. v.a. preter. gelded or gelt; part. pass. gelded or gelt. [gelten, German.]

  1. To castrate; to deprive of the power of generation.

    Geld bull-calf and ram lamb as soon as they fall. Tusser.

    Lord Say hath gelded the commonwealth, and made it an eunuch. Shakesp. Henry VI.

  2. To deprive of any essential part.

            He bears his course, and runs me up
    With like advantage on the other side,
    Gelding th' oppos'd continent as much
    As on the other side it takes from you.     Shakesp. Henry IV.

  3. To deprive of any thing immodest, or liable to objection.

    They were diligent enough to make sure work, and to geld it so clearly in some places that they took away the very manhood of it. Dryden's Preface to Cleomenes.

Sources: Dryden, John (788) · Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 (46) · Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2 (49) · Tusser, Thomas (25)

Attributes: German (30) · Verb Active (289)

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Cite this page: Johnson, Samuel. "Geld." A Dictionary of the English Language: A Digital Edition of the 1755 Classic by Samuel Johnson. Edited by Brandi Besalke. Last modified: May 18, 2014. https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/geld/.

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