1. [n]  the trait of being rude and impertinent; inclined to take liberties
2. [n]  a digestive juice secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder; aids in the digestion of fats
3. [n]  a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
4. [n]  abnormal swelling of plant tissue caused by insects or microorganisms or injury
5. [n]  a skin sore caused by chafing
6. [n]  an open sore on the back of a horse caused by ill-fitting or badly adjusted saddle
7. [v]  irritate or vex; "It galls me that we lost the suit"
8. [v]  become or make sore by or as if by rubbing

1. \Gall\, n.[OE. galle, gal, AS. gealla; akin to D. gal, OS.
   & OHG. galla, Icel. gall, SW. galla, Dan. galde, L. fel, Gr.
   ?, and prob. to E. yellow. ? See {Yellow}, and cf. {Choler}]
   1. (Physiol.) The bitter, alkaline, viscid fluid found in the
      gall bladder, beneath the liver. It consists of the
      secretion of the liver, or bile, mixed with that of the
      mucous membrane of the gall bladder.
   
   2. The gall bladder.
   
   3. Anything extremely bitter; bitterness; rancor.
   
            He hath . . . compassed me with gall and travail.
                                                  --Lam. iii. 5.
   
            Comedy diverted without gall.         --Dryden.
   
   4. Impudence; brazen assurance. [Slang]
   
   {Gall bladder} (Anat.), the membranous sac, in which the
      bile, or gall, is stored up, as secreted by the liver; the
      cholecystis. See Illust. of Digestive apparatus.
   
   {Gall duct}, a duct which conveys bile, as the cystic duct,
      or the hepatic duct.
   
   {Gall sickness}, a remitting bilious fever in the
      Netherlands. --Dunglison.
   
   {Gall of the earth} (Bot.), an herbaceous composite plant
      with variously lobed and cleft leaves, usually the
      {Prenanthes serpentaria}.
   
   

2. \Gall\, n. [F. galle, noix de galle, fr. L. galla.]
   (Zo["o]l.)
   An excrescence of any form produced on any part of a plant by
   insects or their larvae. They are most commonly caused by
   small Hymenoptera and Diptera which puncture the bark and lay
   their eggs in the wounds. The larvae live within the galls.
   Some galls are due to aphids, mites, etc. See {Gallnut}.
   
   Note: The galls, or gallnuts, of commerce are produced by
         insects of the genus {Cynips}, chiefly on an oak
         ({Quercus infectoria or Lusitanica}) of Western Asia
         and Southern Europe. They contain much tannin, and are
         used in the manufacture of that article and for making
         ink and a black dye, as well as in medicine.
   
   {Gall insect} (Zo["o]l.), any insect that produces galls.
   
   {Gall midge} (Zo["o]l.), any small dipterous insect that
      produces galls.
   
   {Gall oak}, the oak ({Quercus infectoria}) which yields the
      galls of commerce.
   
   {Gall of glass}, the neutral salt skimmed off from the
      surface of melted crown glass;- called also {glass gall}
      and {sandiver}. --Ure.
   
   {Gall wasp}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Gallfly}.
   
   

3. \Gall\, v. t. (Dyeing)
   To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts. --Ure.
   
   

4. \Gall\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Galled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Galling}.] [OE. gallen; cf. F. galer to scratch, rub, gale
   scurf, scab, G. galle a disease in horses' feet, an
   excrescence under the tongue of horses; of uncertain origin.
   Cf. {Gall} gallnut.]
   1. To fret and wear away by friction; to hurt or break the
      skin of by rubbing; to chafe; to injure the surface of by
      attrition; as, a saddle galls the back of a horse; to gall
      a mast or a cable.
   
            I am loth to gall a new-healed wound. --Shak.
   
   2. To fret; to vex; as, to be galled by sarcasm.
   
            They that are most galled with my folly, They most
            must laugh.                           --Shak.
   
   3. To injure; to harass; to annoy; as, the troops were galled
      by the shot of the enemy.
   
            In our wars against the French of old, we used to
            gall them with our longbows, at a greater distance
            than they could shoot their arrows.   --Addison.
   
   

5. \Gall\, v. i.
   To scoff; to jeer. [R.] --Shak.
   
   

6. \Gall\, n.
   A wound in the skin made by rubbing.
   
   

(1) Heb. mererah, meaning "bitterness" (Job 16:13); i.e., the bile secreted in the liver. This word is also used of the poison of asps (20:14), and of the vitals, the seat of life (25).

(2.) Heb. rosh. In Deut. 32:33 and Job 20:16 it denotes the poison of serpents. In Hos. 10:4 the Hebrew word is rendered "hemlock." The original probably denotes some bitter, poisonous plant, most probably the poppy, which grows up quickly, and is therefore coupled with wormwood (Deut. 29:18; Jer. 9:15; Lam. 3:19). Comp. Jer. 8:14; 23:15, "water of gall," Gesenius, "poppy juice;" others, "water of hemlock," "bitter water."

(3.) Gr. chole (Matt. 27:34), the LXX. translation of the Hebrew _rosh_ in Ps. 69; 21, which foretells our Lord's sufferings. The drink offered to our Lord was vinegar (made of light wine rendered acid, the common drink of Roman soldiers) "mingled with gall," or, according to Mark (15:23), "mingled with myrrh;" both expressions meaning the same thing, namely, that the vinegar was made bitter by the infusion of wormwood or some other bitter substance, usually given, according to a merciful custom, as an anodyne to those who were crucified, to render them insensible to pain. Our Lord, knowing this, refuses to drink it. He would take nothing to cloud his faculties or blunt the pain of dying. He chooses to suffer every element of woe in the bitter cup of agony given him by the Father (John 18:11).