Gill Meaning
/ɡɪl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.
nounA gill slit or gill cover.
Sentence Examples
Gill usually acts most efficiently.
The fish has a small tear near its left gill.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The fish breathes through its ____, extracting oxygen from water.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ is a respiratory organ used by many aquatic organisms to extract dissolved oxygen from the water.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English gille, gylle (“gill”), of North Germanic origin, akin to Danish gælle, Swedish gäl, Norwegian gjelle, and further to Old Norse gjǫlnar (“lips”), which also may have had the meaning of "gills" (based on Old Danish fiskegæln (“gills”)). The Old Norse word has been suggested as deriving from Proto-Germanic *gelunō (“jaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel-, which would make it root-cognate to Ancient Greek χελύνη (khelúnē, “lip, jaw”), χεῖλος (kheîlos, “lip”). Displaced native Old English ċīe.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Fishes […] perform their respiration under water by the gills."
— 1691, John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation. […], London: […] Samuel Smith, […], →OCLC:
"dropsy fills you to the gills"
— 1728, Jonathan Swift, Ballad on Ballyspellin:
"As we had fish home in the icebox, when Bill led the fish up alongside, I leaned over the combing, gilled the fish with my fingers, slid out the hook and let go. The bass lay there for a moment, tired from the arch of the rod and the pull of the line."
— 1948, Oliver Hazard Perry Rodman, The Saltwater Fisherman's Favorite Four, page 166:
"She gutted and gilled the fish, then scaled it."
— 2014, Scott Tippett, Polaris, →ISBN, page 99:
"Owing to the peculiar shape of the pompano and the relatively large mesh in the pompano gill nets, the fish are not caught by being actually gilled."
— 1898, Report of the Commissioner of Fisheries to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, page 255:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The fish breathes through its ____, extracting oxygen from water.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ is a respiratory organ used by many aquatic organisms to extract dissolved oxygen from the water.