1
: brazen boldness often with brash self-confidence : nerve, effrontery
I can't believe she said that! What gall!
… the chutzpah, the unmitigated gall, the boldness of these guys …—Anthony M. Amore, quoted in Toronto Star (online)
… the sheer gall and effrontery of the genuine … grifter …—Lucy Mangan
—usually used in the phrase have the gallOnce again he has the gall to blame the Press he hates for reporting what he and his wife have said.—Robert Jobson
(humorous) … the head coach had the gall to suggest his poorly performing team was performing poorly.—Cathal Kelly
When caught red-handed, don't have the gall (or stupidity) to try to deny it.—Jane Moore
Our society has a propensity for covertly liking the "unlikeable". Maybe it's because we appreciate those who do and say things we don't have the gall to put forth ourselves …—Adam Ramos
2
: bile sense 1a
especially
: ox gall
3
a
: something bitter to endure
… Ed McBain's new 87th Precinct police procedural, whose dark plot of romantic betrayal and legal injustice comes laced with the bitter gall of irony.—Marilyn Stasio
b
: bitterness of spirit : rancor
He seemed to be full of hatred and gall against every thing and every body in the world …—Herman Melville
galled; galling; galls
2
: to fret and wear away by friction : chafe
the loose saddle galled the horse's back
the galling of a metal bearing
: an abnormal outgrowth of plant tissue usually due to insect or mite parasites or fungi and sometimes forming an important source of tannin see gall wasp illustration
1
a
: a skin sore caused by chronic irritation
b
: a cause or state of exasperation
2
archaic
: flaw
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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