See Also: gild(1)(dictionary)
gild(2)(dictionary)
gild(dictionary)
gild(dictionary)

gild (iou)



gild verb1 trans. .

Cover with a thin layer of gold, esp. as gold leaf. OE.
R. Cumberland Its magnificent owner..had gilt and furnished the apartments with a profusion of luxury.
b. transf. Smear (with blood). Now rare or obsolete. L16.
Shakespeare Macbeth If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, For it must seem their guilt.
Esp. of the sun: cover, tinge, or adorn with a golden colour or light. ME.
Dryden Stars..shooting through the darkness, guild the Night With sweeping Glories, and long trails of Light. E. Crispin Gilded and warmed by the steady October sunlight.
Alchemy. Impregnate (a liquid) with gold. L15-L17.
Supply with gold or money; make reputable or attractive by supplying with money. Now chiefly as passing into sense 5. L16.
C. Merivale The missions of proconsuls..were gilded..by gifts from states and potentates.
b. Of money: make reputable or attractive. E17.
Give a (specious or illusory) brilliance or lustre to, esp. by the use of favourable or complimentary speech. L16.
Shakespeare 1 Henry IV If a lie may do thee grace, I'll gild it with the happiest terms I have.
Impart a brilliant colour or flush to (the face). rare (Shakes.). Only in E17.
Shakespeare Tempest This grand liquor that hath gilded 'em.
Phrases, & with adverbs in specialized senses: gild over cover with gilding, esp. to conceal defects (chiefly fig.). gild the lily: see LILY noun. gild the pill make something unpleasant seem more acceptable.