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WORDCRAFT DICTIONARY, F-G
Note: clickable items link to Wordcraft Archives, which may have further notes

FabianΉ – eponym: of cautious delaying tactics to wear out an enemy, avoiding decisive battle

Fabian² – eponym: of the Fabian Society, which aimed to reach socialism by non-revolutionary methods

facile – easy (but with overtones of being too easy, too convenient. If you play hooky from work, it's a facile excuse to claim that your grandmother had died.)

facile princeps – easily the first; by far the first; admittedly best

factitious disorder – see Munchausen syndromeo

fag, faggot – terms with different meanings in the US and the UK. In US, offensive terms for a homosexual. In the UK, a faggot is a large meatball made from offal. A fag is a rather old-fashioned slang word for a cigarette, and also means a younger pupil who is under the charge of an older one for whom he has to perform various housekeeping type duties. In Australian slang, a fag is a cigarette.

faggots in gravy – Brit: meatballs (esp. of pig's liver) in gravy (esp. onion gravy). Recipe

Fagin – eponym: an adult who instructs others (e.g., children) in crime

Fahrvergnόgen – driving pleasure. Used by Volkswagen in an advertising campaign

faience – toponym: glazed ceramic ware

faineant deity – a god who does not act in human affairs, and hence is not worshiped

faineant; fainιant – noun: an irresponsible idler; a do-nothing. adj.: idle and ineffectual. (fainιance; fainιancy)

fains! – Brit. schoolboy slang: a call for a truce; a statement of opposition

fall guy – a scapegoat; one who is blamed for the actions of others (also, an easy victim, one who is readily duped)

false dilemma – two alternatives set up as if they were the only options, (e.g., "America: Love it or leave it"), when there are in fact middle-ground or other options

Falstaffian – eponym: jovial, convivial, roguish, with zest for life

famulus – a sorcerer's assistant; also, non-demonically, a private secretary or other close attendant

fangled (as in newfangled) – characterized by silly affectations or by peculiar notions

fanny adams – eponym: archaic naval slang: tinned meat, or unpleasant food. sweet fanny adams: Brit. slang for 'nothing whatsoever'

fardel – a bundle or little pack; hence, a burden [Personally, I think of the backpacks in which today's students carry their schoolbooks.]

farrago (also here) – a confused mixture

fart-arse – Australian slang: screw off, waste time

fascia – a flat member of an order or building, like a flat band or broad fillet

fashionista – mildly disparaging: an enthusiast for the trends of fashion

fast-break – (from basketball): progress so rapid as to be bordering on lack of control (Wordcrafter definition)

fata morgana – eponym: a mirage in the literal sense; that is, an optical phenomenon that creates the illusion of water

fatuous – silly and pointless (noun: fatuity)

Faustian – eponym: of a "deal with the Devil": sacrificing moral values for power, knowledge, or wealth

fauteuil – an upholstered armchair, usually with open sides

favonian – eponym: mild; benign

feague – (of a horse) to put ginger up a horse's rear end, to make him lively and carry his tail well

featherbedding – the practice of forcing the employer (by union rule, etc.) to hire more workers than needed (or to limit his workers' production)

featherpated – feather-headed; frivolous

fecundate – to make fruitful or productive

fedora – eponym: a soft felt hat with a curled brim and the crown creased lengthways

Feierabend – German: festive frame of mind at the end of the working day

feinghee – a European (term used in India)

feline – like a cat

felting (knitting) – washing a knit fabric, in order to shrink it and cause it to and loses its stitch definition

female (etymology) – not from 'male'. Latin femina = woman became Old French femelle. The middle e in femelle then changed to an a, making femalle, on the mistaken assumption that it was parallel to 'male'.

femme fatale – 1. a seductive woman who lures men into dangerous or compromising situations 2. an alluring, mysterious woman of charm and mystery

ferromagnetic – having strong, persistent magnetism of the kind possessed by iron., persisting without any external magnetic field (contrast paramagnetic; see Curry point)

ferruginous – the reddish-brown color of iron rust

ferrule – a metal ring or cap around a pole or shaft, to reinforce or to prevent splitting (as on the end of an umbrella)

fesse – heraldry: a horizontal band across the middle of an escutcheon. fesse point (fess? point): the exact center of an escutcheon

Festschrift – a collection of writings published in honor of a scholar

festucine – straw-yellow. from Latin festuca = "stalk," or "straw". (Confusion amid the dictionaries. Webster's defines festucine as "straw-colored; greenish-yellow", which is contradictory: straw is not greenish. OED says only "straw-colored", which begs the question: What color is that?)

fκte – noun: a celebration or festival; verb: to honor or entertain lavishly

fettle (as in fine fettle) – condition or state [from the verb fettle, "to make ready, arrange"]

feuilleton – 1. a part of a newspaper to entertain the general reader; an item printed there 2. a novel printed in installments (also roman feuilleton)

fiacre – a small horse-drawn carriage

fiduciary – law: who is required to act for the benefit of another, who owes duties of good faith, trust, confidence and candor (e.g, a trustee)

fiesty – aggressive, excitable, touchy

fifth column – a clandestine subversive organization; an enemy in your midst

figh – in Islam, jurisprudence based on theology

filbert – often thought of as the hazelnut. More exactly, hazelnuts are the new world species, and filberts and cobnuts are their much-smaller old-world cousins

filemot – the yellowish brown color of a faded leaf. (The word, which has many variant spellings, is an anglicized and corrupted version of feuillemorte, literally "dead leaf" in French. )

filibuster – a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches

finial – the ornamental piece that screws into the top of a lamp, holding the shade in place

finjan – a small handleless coffee cup (see zarf)

fink – to tell on someone; to inform on

fisselig – German: flustered into incompetence because a critical person is watching

fissile – able to undergo nuclear fission [So say the dictionaries, but I suggest it means able to undergo explosive nuclear fission.]

fizzle – (interesting etymology; see Archives)

fjord – a long, narrow arm of the sea, running up between high banks or cliffs. Glacially eroded.

flam – drumming: a quiet "grace" note on one hand followed by a louder "primary" stroke on the opposite hand. the two notes are played almost simultaneously, and are intended to sound like a single, 'broader' note. One of the 26 rudiments of drumming.

flamfloo – a gaudily dressed female, one whose chief pleasure consists of dress  [obsolete; from The Word Museum by J. Kacirk]

flaneur (fem. flaneuse) – an aimless idler; a loafer. flβnerie: the occupation (or lack thereof)

flapdoodle – foolish talk; nonsense

flash fiction – a short-short (or an even more tightly compressed story)

Flavism – excess yellow pigment; same as xanthism (per the web)

fleer – to laugh in a disrespectful or jeering way

fletcher – one who makes arrows

Fletcherize – eponym: to masticate [chew] one's food slowly and thoroughly [Fletcherism – said practice]

flibbertigibbet – a frivolous and restless person, silly and flighty, scatterbrained or constantly talking

flippant – not showing the proper seriousness or respect

floccinaucinihilipilification – an estimation of something as worthless (the longest word in the first edition of the OED) (floccinaucical = inconsiderable; floccinaucicity = a matter of small consequence)

flocculate – (trans. & intrans.) to form (or form into) clumps or tufts

flocculent – fluffy, like tufts of wool

flokati – a Greek hand-woven shaggy woolen rug

floriated – decorated or adorned with floral ornaments

florilegium (pl. florilegia) – a collection of excerpts from written texts, especially works of literature

flounder – to struggle clumsily (contrast founder)

flubdub – pretentious nonsense; bunkum; bombast

fluke – 1. each of the two lobes on a whale's tail 2. certain parasitic flatworms (called trematodes) that attach to their host with suckers 3. the triangular plate at the end of each arm of an anchor.

flummadiddle – U.S. 1. a dessert, consisting of a baked mash of stale bread, pork fat, molasses, cinnamon and allspice 2. slang: nonsense, humbug; also, something trivial or ridiculous

flummox – to confuse, perplex, bewilder

fluvial – pertaining to rivers

flyter – obs. one who scolds; a scold.

FO (knitting) – finished object (celebrated with great glee; contrast UFO – unfinished object)

foible – a minor weakness or failing of character

foison – plenty; abundance; rich harvest

foley – eponym: during filmmaking, the adding of sound effects

folie ΰ deux – delusion or mental illness shared by two people in close association (siblings, spouses; etc.); ‘shared madness’

fontange (etymology) – a commode

foofaraw – frills and flashy finery. also, to-do over a trifle; a fuss

fool – a traditional English sweet dish, a kind of fruit puree.

footy – Australian slang: a football, or a game of football

forepleasure – expanded concept of foreplay, not limited to physical contacts; includes, e.g., just quietly enjoying togetherness

forfend – to prohibit or ward off

formel – obs: a female eagle or hawk

formication – the feeling of ants or other insects crawling over one's skin

forte – something in which a person excels

fortnight – a fourteen-day period

forty winks (or 40 winks) – a short sleep (usually not in bed)

foudroyant – of dazzling or stunning effect

founder – to sink, collapse, or fail completely (contrast flounder)

four hundred [alphabetized here, but usually expressed as “the 400“] – the highest society of a locality

fourberie – trickery or deception

four-flusher – a fake; a humbug; a pretender (to four-flush: to bluff)

fourth estate – journalists considered as a group; the public press

fourth wall – see breaking the fourth wall

fox (verb) – to make (beer) sour by fermenting

fractal – adj  characterized by having small parts that are miniature replicas of larger parts; similar, to itself, at different scales. noun – a fractal figure or picture

fractious (also here) – 1. unruly; tending to make trouble 2. quarrelsome; irritable

frag; fragging – to wound or kill a fellow soldier by a grenade or similar explosive. from frag, slang for fragmentation grenade

franc-tireur – a sniper or sharpshooter, working outside the regular army

franger – Australian slang: condom

frangipani – eponym: pastry cream filling, almond-flavored; also, perfume of the frangipani shrub

Frankenstein – eponym: a monstrous creation; esp. one that ruins its originator

frankincense and myrrh – each an aromatic gum resin, used in perfumes and as incense

franklin – a landowner of free but not noble birth (14th and 15th cent. England)

fraught – causing or characterized by emotional distress or tension [fraught with – filled with a specified element, as fraught with danger]

French fried potatoes – not named for France; the verb 'to french' means "to cut into strips or slices, before cooking'.

French leave – ducking out of a party without saying goodbye to the hostess (or going AWOL in the military)

French letter – a condom

frenetic – frenzied; fast and energetic in a wild and uncontrolled way

frenum – a connecting membrane supporting or restraining a body part, such as the frenum of the tongue

fress – to eat a great deal (also, to eat quickly noisily). noun form: fresser

Freudian slip – eponym: a slip of the tongue that reveals some unconscious aspect of the mind

fribbler – a trifler [obsolete; from The Word Museum by J. Kacirk]

fricative – noun/adj: of speech sounds of air forced through a constricted passage (as 'f', 's', 'z', or `th')

fricatrice – a lewd woman; a harlot

frick and frack – eponym: a closely linked or inseparable pair

fright wig – a wig with long frizzy hair standing up

fringillaceous – like a finch

frisson – a sudden thrill of fear, or other excitement [from French for 'shiver']

frizzle – to fry until crisp and curled, as bacon. (noun: a crisp curl, as hair). also: rain in a frozen drizzle

frogging (knitting) – drastic un-knitting, when you have made a very big mistake and need to rip out most or all of the garment [This term comes from having to say “Rip it! Rip it!”]

frogmarch – to force (someone) to walk forward by pinning their arms from behind

front runner – the contestant in the lead in a race or other competition

frontlist – [usage ambiguous] publisher's list of new or current titles, or of those being pushed as potential blockbusters

fronton – a building where pelota (jai alai) is played

frore – (archaic) extremely cold; frosty

frottage – 1. art: the technique of creating a design by rubbing soft charcoal, over paper which has been placed over an uneven surface 2. life: the practice of rubbing against a clothed person for (ahem) gratification, as in a crowd

frou-frou – fussy or showy dress or ornamentation

fruits (various exotic fruits) – cherimoya (custard apple); cloudberries; coquito nut (baby coconut); dragon fruit; durian; kiwano; loquat; lotus fruit; lychee; mangosteen; quince; passion fruit; pluot (plum/apricot cross); starfruit; ugli fruit (seville orange/grapefruit/tangerine cross)

frutescent – 1. shrubby (says AHD) 2. imperfectly shrubby or somewhat shrubby (says Web. Unabridged)

fubar – see snafu

fubb – see snafu

fubsy – plump and squat (see fussock)

fucha – using company time and resources for your own ends [a foreign word, Polish, that appeared on our board]

fucitol – a felicitously-named alcohol derived from the sugar fucose, which comes from the seaweed Fucus vesiculosis. Apparently several articles, about a kinase enzyme which acts on fucose, were authored by Japanese scientists – and until 1997 no one noticed the problem arising when "fucose kinase" is abbreviated as 'fuc-K'.

fuggles – a variety of English hop

fugly – f-ing ugly

fugue [Latin fuga ‘flight’] – psychiatry: a pathological amnesiac condition; "a flight from one's own identity" (OED): one is aware of one's acts, but cannot recollect them after returning to a normal state. Loss of awareness of one’s identity, often with flight from one’s usual environment. (Usually from severe mental stress; may persist for as long as several months)

fujigmo – see snafu

fulgurate – to flash, like lightning (see fuliginous)

fulgurous – (lit. or fig.) flashing like lightning [conveys impressiveness] [also fulgurant; fulgorous]

fuliginous – sooty or of soot [a word little used since Henry James] (see fulgurate)

full-court press – an aggressive, no-holds-barred, all-out effort

fullerene – a class of molecules with carbon atoms arranged as in a soccer ball: pentagons and hexagons (each with carbon atoms at all points) form a sphere or other hollow shape.

fulminate – 1. to express vehement protest. 2. to explode violently or flash like lightning. 3. (of a disease) to develop suddenly and severely

fulsome – [two contradictory meanings] 1. excessively complimentary or flattering [uncomplimentary] 2. generous in amount, extent, or spirit [complimentary]

fumarole – a hole in a volcanic area from which hot smoke and gases escape (see link)

fumtu – see snafu

fungible – interchangeable; more exactly, considered the equivalent, as a dollar bill is equivalent to any other dollar bill

funistrada – non-dictionary "word" – a nonsense food name created for a 1974 preference survey, along with 375 real foods, to use as a control to see if those taking the poll were paying attention. Funistrada was rather well liked (better than buttered ermal or to braised trake): the survey-respondents rated it above eggplant, instant coffee, apricot pie, harvard beets, canned lima beans, grilled bologna, and cranberry juice.

furbelow – 1. a ruffle or flounce on a garment 2. usually plural: a piece of showy ornamentation

furfuration – the shedding of dandruff

furphy –  eponym;Austral. informal: a far-fetched rumor [Wordcrafter: I would say "a latrine rumor"]

fuselage – the main body of an aircraft

fushion – Scots dialect: spirit, energy, gumption or (in referring to food) wholesomeness

fussbudget – a person who fusses over trifles

fussock – a large, fat woman (see fubsy; gaucy; porknell; pursy; blowmaunger; pinguescence)

fustianΉ,² – noun; also used as adj.: 1. a strong cotton fabric, thick and twilled; includes courduroy. 2. bombast; inflated, pompous language

fustilugs – obsolete dialect: a gross, fat, unwieldy person, esp. a woman

fusty – old-fashioned; also, smelling damp or stuffy; musty

fuzzy logic – a multi-valued logic developed to deal with imprecise or vague data

gabion – riprap [i.e., loose stone] enclosed in a mesh cage, for modular use to hold a riverbank, a retaining wall, etc. (see illustration #1 and illustation#2). This use of "gabion" has not yet entered the dictionaries.

gaffer – 1. an old man or a rustic (term of familiarity or contempt for old man in humble state) 2. a boss or foreman

gaffing – slang: swindling; rigging so as to cheat (Note: has been used in major press to mean "making a major blunder": his diplomatic gaffing also has gotten him into trouble.)

gaggle – a flock (of geese); also derisively, a company (of women)

gain (obsolete adjective) – straight; direct (as in roads); see gainly

gainly – graceful, tactful (of conduct); or: graceful, shapely (of bodily form or movement) 
From gain (obsolete adjective) – straight; direct (as in roads). It survives in the negative term ungainly – clumsy; awkward.

galimatias – confused language, meaningless talk, nonsense; hence also, a mixture, medley

gall – 1. to scoff, jeer 2. to fret, vex: to be galled by sarcasm 3. to injure, harass, annoy  ['gall' has further meanings as well.]

gallimaufry – an absurd medley; a hodgepodge

gallinaceous – of or like chickens, pheasants, turkeys, and grouse; also, of or like domestic fowl

gallium (etymology; eponym) – one of the chemical elements; its melting-point is so low that it will melt on a warm day, or even when held in the hand

gallligaskins – loose trousers

galoopus bird – mythical bird of southwest Missouri which, like the gillygallo, laid square eggs; but apparently a separate species, not another name for the same bird. <wink>

galumph – to move in a clumsy, ponderous, or noisy manner [in 1st quote, a noun]

galvanize – eponym: stimulate to action, as if by electric shock

gambado – a capering, leaping or gamboling movement

gambit – 1. an action or remark calculated to gain an advantage; a maneuver or ploy 2. a remark made to open a conversation [term evolved from the game of chess]

gamboge – a strong yellow color (some say strong reddish yellow)

gambol (also here) – to dance and skip about in play; to frolic.

gambrinous – full of beer

game plan – a strategy for achieving an objective (from US football)

gamelan – traditional instrumental ensemble in Java and Bali, including many bronze percussion instruments

gamin; gamine – 1. a street urchin [boy gamin; girl gamine], typically clever and roguish 2. either 'gamine' or 'gamine': a playfully mischievous girl or woman of impish appeal

gammer – an elderly woman

gammerstang – a tall, awkward woman. (Sometimes you'll find this lovely word defined with further shades of meaning, such as "with bad manners" or "with bad morals".)

gamp – eponym; chiefly British: a large baggy umbrella (some sources add also: a midwife)

ganache – a rich icing of melted chocolate and whipping cream, heated and stirred together

gandermooner – a husband who strays each month, during the "time of month" when his wife is "unavailable" [Wordcrafter note: the dictionaries have a different definition for this very-rare word. I think they are mistaken.]

Garand – eponym: a semi-automatic rifle (better known as the M-1) used by U.S. forces during WWII and the Korean War. [accent on either syllable]

garbology – the study of a cultural group by its waste materials

gargantuan – eponym: of immense size; gigantic

gargoyle (etymology) – gargoyle figures on churches served waterspouts to discharge rainwater.  The word gargoyle traces from the same French root as gargle and gurgle.

garibaldi – eponym: a type of woman’s blouse

garrulous [noun form: garrulity] – talkative – usually in a negative sense of being long and rambling, wordy; or trivial; and tedious, tiresome and annoying

garter stitch (knitting) – an certain elementary pattern, producing a rougher fabric, with ridges on both sides

gastromancy – divination by the sound of, or marks upon, the belly [dictionary at mancy lists 54 form of divination]

gastropub – a bar where high quality food is served

gauche ­­– socially clumsy or tactless (French for 'left', opposite of 'right')

gaucy – fat and comely (a compliment and insult rolled into one; see fussock)

gavial – a crocodile-like animal of northern India, with a long slender snout; picture here

gazetteer – a geographical index or dictionary

gearhead – a car enthusiast (per Shorter OED).
M-W says, "a person who engages in technical or technological pursuits." Wordcrafter agrees with OED – adding that 'gearhead' includes a motorcycle or bicycle enthusiast, and is also being picked up in the computer industry.)

geekfest – a gathering of geeks, especially one devoted to technical discussions

gemel (g pronounced as in gemini) – paired or twinned (particularly in heraldry); also, set of cruets for oil and vinegar, fused together, spouts diverging so that either can be poured without the other

geminate consonant – a consonant pronounced notably longer than the regular consonant sound. A feature of many languages, though lacking in most (including English)

gemόtlich – warm and congenial; pleasant or friendly (noun: gemόtlichkeit – warm friendliness; amicability)

genizah – a repository for Hebrew documents and sacred books that are no longer in use (e.g. old and worn), but must not be destroyed

Genoa – the name, of unclear origin, may be an eponym from the god Janus, who also gave us the January.

genocide – a word notable for variations. Note the confusion of whether it includes targeting a religious group or a political opposition.
Genocide is the attempt to exterminate:
 – an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group (AHD); or
 – a racial, political, or cultural group (Merr.-Webster); or
 – a national, racial, religious, or ethnic group. (encyclopedia.com); or
 – a racial, religious, political, or ethnic group. (britanica.com)
     This equivocation traces back to the original United Nations "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide" of December 9, 1948. Genocide as defined there refers to "a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such". The UN record claims that political groups were omitted because one's political affiliation is "mutable" – but that carries no water, for the same could equally be said of one's religious group. The true reason for the omission is that the USSR rejected any legal restraint on its right to go after internal political opponents.

genotype – the genetic makeup (contrast phenotype)

geomancy – divination by earth [dictionary at mancy lists 54 form of divination]

geophyte – general term for the bulb (corm, tuber, or rhizome) , etc. from which certain plants grow. A bulb is layered inside, with a basel plate at the base (see also tunic). A corm lacks internal structure. A tuber is simply a swollen root or stem. A rhizome grows horizontally underground and can be cut into sections, each of which will grow.

georgette – eponym: a sheer silk clothing fabric with a dull, creped surface.

geotropic – growing in response to gravity, as the downward growth of plant roots

gerb – a firework that throws out a shower of sparks. [French gerb sheaf of corn (wheat?)]

gerrymander – eponym: to divide political unit into voting districts in unnatural and unfair way so as to give one side an advantage; also, a district so created

gestalt – an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts

get one's goat – to anger; to annoy; to irritate

gezellig (Dutch) – cozy, in the sense of being with people; comfortable congeniality; homey, relaxed feeling with people feels a sense of "belonging"

ghee – clarified butter

ghetto – a part of a city in which a group is isolated (esp. a poor part, with confinement by social, legal, or economic pressure). fig: a similarly isolating situaton (esp. one of poor status or poor opportunity)

ghit – google hit

ghost word – a non-word that is presented as being a word, in a dictionary or other work on words, due to the author's error

ghrelin – a hormone that stimulates appetite

giaour – an infidel; a non-Muslim, esp. a Christian

gibbet – a gallows (technically, of slightly different construction)

gibson girl – eponym: idealized 1890s American young woman; also, style of her clothing characte­rized by high necks, full sleeves, wasp waists

giclιe – a high-quality copy of a painting, etc., made by digital scanning and ink-jet printing onto canvas or archival paper

giggle – a group of girls or other silly females

GIGO – the principle, "Garbage In, Garbage Out". In other words, if the inputs are nonsense, the results will be nonsense.

gillΉ (pronounced jill) – a quarter pint

gill² (soft g, as in Jill) – a familiar or contemptuous term applied to a woman; a lass, wench

gillygaloo – mythical bird of the remote forests of Wisconsin, nesting on the steepest of slopes. It lays square eggs so that they wouldn't roll downhill; the eggs, when hardboiled, made excellent dice. <wink>

girn – to complain in a whining voice; also, to contort one's face; grimace

glabella – the space between the eyebrows, just above the nose

glabrous – without hair (A reader notes: glabrous means "hairless", "smooth". You wouldn't usually describe someone as glabrous when you mean "without any hair on his head"; you'd use "bald".)

gladiate – sword-shaped (see ensiform, xiphoid)

gladstone bag – eponym: a piece of light hand luggage with two hinged compartments

glasnost – a Soviet policy permitting open discussion of political and social issues and freer dissemination of news and information (I suggest that the word can be used for a like policy elsewhere.)

glaucous – of a pale yellow-green color; of a light bluish gray or bluish white color.  Note:  obviously, these definitions conflict.  See Wordcraft archive for discussion.

gleek – to make sport; to gibe; to sneer (noun: a jest or scoff; a trick or deception); also, to spend time idly

glider – AHD's definition ("a light engineless aircraft designed to glide after being towed aloft or launched from a catapult") is imprecise, since some gliders are towed behind airplanes. The proper term for this definition is sailplane. Interestingly, though, often news accounts speak of a "motorized glider". It might be more accurate to define sailplane as "an aircraft capable of sustained flight by the use only of rising air currents", even if it also has an engine.

glister – an old form of clyster, which see

glitterati – highly fashionable celebrities; the smart set

glory – colored diffraction rings around the point opposite the sun (anti-solar point); i.e. where the shadow of the observer's head is

glory hole – an opening in the wall of a glass furnace, exposing the brilliant white light of the interior

glottal – produced in the glottis: the vocal chords and the slit between them

glox – the sound of liquids when shaken in a barrel [obsolete; from The Word Museum by J. Kacirk]

gloze – to minimize or underplay; gloss: glozed over the embarrassing part

gnomic – in the form of short, pithy maxims or aphorisms – but with a sense of enigmatic; ambiguous [gnome – a pithy saying that expresses a general truth or fundamental principle; an aphorism]

gnomon; gnomen (also here) – the piece in a sundial that casts the time-indicating shadow [the relevant edge of that piece is the style]

goatee (etymology) – so named for its resemblance to the beard of a goat

gobemouche – a silly and credulous person; one who will swallow anything you tell him

gobshite – vulgar slang, chiefly Irish: a stupid or incompetent person [a general-purpose insult]

godemiche – a dildo

gold star – informal: a symbol of recognition for merit or effort; also, the recognition itself

goldbrick – a shirker: someone, esp. a soldier, who avoids assigned duties. Can also be used as a verb (also, something that appears valuable but is actually worthless)

golden parachute – an employment contract providing that a key executive will be given lucrative severance benefits if the company is taken over

goldilocks – eponym: a person with golden hair

Goldilocks economy – an economy that is not so overheated that it causes inflation, and not so cool that it causes a recession

goldings – a variety of English hop

golem – Jewish folklore: an artificially created human, given life by supernatural power

goliath or Goliath – eponym: a giant; a person or thing of colossal size or power

golliwog – eponym: a grotesque black doll; grotesque person

golum – one who is a simpleton; or clumsy, all thumbs; or graceless, tactless; or subnormal

gonfalon – a pennant

goody two-shoes – eponym: one who is affectedly good and proper, just a bit too good and proper

goofang – mythical Wisconsin fish that which swims backwards to keep the water out of its eyes. One deduces that its eyes must be hypersensitive. It is about the size of a sunfish, only bigger. compare goofus bird, sandhill perch

goofus bird – mythical bird which, wishing to know where it's been, flies backwards. It also prefers to sleep upside down, so it builds its nest upside down, shaped something like an igloo with the hole underneath. No one is sure why the eggs don't fall out. compare goofang, sandhill pearch

Google™ – one story is that the search engine was called 'Googol', but an angel investor made his a check out to 'Google'.  The developers, after some thought, decided to open an account in the name 'Google'. Some google™ words:
to google – to search on the Google™ search engine.
googlespeak – the lexicon of google terms.
vanity googler – one who googles his own name, to see what others will find when they google him or her, assuming that he or she rates being googled.
revenge google – to diss, online, a former beau after a relationship gone bad.
ungoogle – to try to combat revenge googling.
google bomb – to push a web site high in a list of Google™ search results, by setting up a large number of pages with links to that site.
googlewhacking – a quirky online word game using the search engine.

googol – the number written as 1 followed by a hundred zeros (also, a very large number or quantity)

googolplex – the number written as 1 followed by a googol of zeros

goon [etymology] – a thug hired to intimidate or harm opponents, particulary as a strikebreaker; also, a stupid or oafish person [from the Popeye comics?]

goose egg – zero, nothing; esp.: a score of zero in a game or contest (Wordcrafter note: I would add that the term, in non-baseball use, implies zero results despite effort.)

Gordian Knot – eponym: an intricate problem, usu. one insoluble in its own terms

gorgon – eponym: an ugly or repulsive woman

gormless – stupid or ineffectual; taken up with frivolous issues

gorp – a mixture of high-energy foods, such as nuts and dried fruit, eaten as a snack [origin by acronym for "Good Old Raisins and Peanuts"?]

gosport –  toponym; in old airplanes with front-and-back [‘tandem’] cockpits) a flexible tube for speaking from front to back cockpit [after Gosport, a port in southeast England, an embarkation point in WWII for the 1944 invasion of France]

gossamer – noun: 1. a film of cobwebs floating in air in calm clear weather; 2. something light, delicate, or insubstantial: the gossamer of youth's dreams.  adjective: extremely light, delicate, or tenuous

gossip – an interesting etymology.  Originally meant 'godparent' (from God, + sibb = 'relative').  From there the term was extended to mean 'familiar acquaintance'; then to 'one engaging in familiar, idle talk'; then to 'trifling talk, groundless rumor'.

gossoon – a young boy (Irish; informal)

Gotham – a common sobriquet for New York City

gourmandize – to overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself

gowithy; gold-withy – sheep laurel (kalmia angustifolia), or other similar low shrubs

gowpen – a double handful (two hands together, as in the "You're in good hands with Allstate" ad)

graben – a rift valley; a depression between geologic faults [German 'trench'] (compare horst)

gracile; gracillent – gracefully slender

Gradgrind – eponym: one interested only in cold, hard facts

gramercy (interj.; obsolete) – used to express 1. thankfulness 2. surprise (as in 'mercy me!"). Various spellings.

grammalogue – a word shown as a sign, such as & for "and"

grammaticaster – a piddling, petty, pedantic grammarian

Grand Guignol – a sensational or horrific dramatic entertainment

grand marnier – eponym: an orange-flavored French liqueur

grandfather clock – a weight-and-pendulum clock in a tall free-standing wooden case

grandiloquence – a lofty, extravagantly colorful, pompous, or bombastic style, especially in language

grandstanding – performing ostentatiously to impress an audience

granger – a farmer

Grangerize – eponym: to illustrate (a book) by adding prints, etc., especially ones cut out of other books; to mutilate so a book

granita – an Italian dessert made by freezing water, sugar, and a liquid flavoring

grapefruit [bizarre etymology] – name is odd (since fruit is in no way grape-like), and may come from slurred speech

graticule – a network of fine lines as a measuring scale or to locate objects, as on an oscilloscope screen, or to facilitate re-scaling to another size. (Also, the crosshairs in a rifle scope.) geography: the latitude/longitude grid (would not be used for others, such as a street grid)

gratin – the thin crust atop certain cooked foods; also by transfer, the 'upper crust' of society

graupel – granular snow pellets; also called soft hail [The 'au' is pronounced like the 'ow' in 'howl'.]

graveolent – having a rank smell

gravid – pregnant

gravitas – a serious or solemn demeanor; weighty dignity; staidness and sobriety

greave [pronounced like grieve] – leg armor worn below the knee
[usually plural, since you have two legs. from Old French for ‘shin’]

green card – US, but migrating to the British Isles: a permit allowing a foreigner to live and work permanently in the US

green manure – a cover crop planted in the fall to protect the soil from wind and rain erosion during winter and to enrich the soil when it is plowed under in the spring

greenback – a piece of US currency (orig. a particular note issued 1862 to finance the US Civil War) (see coins and currency)

greenmail (corporate takeovers) – the practice of buying enough stock to threaten a hostile takeover, so that the company will pay you a premium price to buy the stock back and get you to go away (also, the money paid to you)

greenroom – a waiting room or lounge for the performers, when they are offstage

Gresham’s law (also here) – eponym: the tendency of inferior products or practices to drive out superior ones

gridelin – grayish violet

grilse – a salmon that has returned to fresh water after a single winter at sea

grimoire – a magician's manual for invoking demons, etc.

grimthorpe – eponym: to restore an old building badly, with lavish expenditure but without skill, taste or regard to historic character

grinch – a spoilsport or killjoy

grobian – a slovenly boor; a lout

grog – eponym: rum cut with water (leading to groggy)

grok – geek-slang: to understand completely  (Coined by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein in his Stranger in a Strange Land)

grommet – a reinforced eyelet, as in cloth or leather

gronk – lint between the toes [query the accuracy of this]

grouchings – beer sediment

ground burst – fireworks: a low level burst of a fireworks shell; potentially very dangerous

grounded – deeply or strongly founded; firmly fixed or established; resting upon a good basis. Chiefly fig. of immaterial well-, ill-grounded

growler – informal: a container, such as a pail or pitcher, that is used for carrying beer

grundyism; Mrs. Grundy – eponym: an extremely conventional or priggish person

gruntled – pleased, satisfied, contented. [The precise opposite of its original meaning.]

guajira – a Cuban peasant dance [literally, “peasant woman”]

guano – dung of sea birds or bats, accumulated along certain coastal areas or in caves, and used as fertilizer; also similar substances, such as fertilizer prepared from ground fish parts

guardant – heraldry: looking out at the viewer full face as opposed to in profile.  See rampant, dormant, saliant for other heraldic terms.

guerdon (also here) – reward, recompense (noun and verb)

guerilla (etymology) – from Sp. for "little war"

guillemets – the marks « and »

guilloche – an ornament in the form of two or more bands or strings twisted over each other in a continued series, leaving circular openings which are filled with round ornaments

guillotine – [eponym] a type of machine for beheading; also, a device (as a paper cutter) of similar action

guinea – 1. offensive slang: a person of Italian descent  2. money: the sum of one pound and one shilling

gula – the upper part of the throat; the front part of the neck

gulag – a forced labor camp or prison, esp. for political dissidents; a similar place or situation of great suffering and hardship

gular – pertaining to the throat

gulosity – greediness; excessive appetite

gumshoe – slang: a detective

gunsel [bizarre etymology] – a gunman in the criminal world [from a sly trick that Dashiell Hammett put over on his editor]

Gunter's scale – eponym: a wooden rule, marked with scales of trigonometric functions and logarithms, to solve mechanically problems in surveying and navigation

gunwale (pronounced GUN-el] – the upper edge or planking of the side of a boat. (to the gunwales informal so as to be almost overflowing)

gustable – 1. capable of being tasted 2. pleasant to the taste; toothsome

guttle – to eat greedily and voraciously (noun: guttler – one who guttles; a glutton)

guyot – eponym: a flat-topped submarine mountain

gynander – a mannish woman

gynoticolobomassophile – a person who enjoys nibbling on the earlobes of women (note: it having been noted that nuchal = 'of the nape of the neck', one of our female members commented that she would love to find a gynonuchalmassophile)

gyromancy – divination by circles [dictionary at mancy lists 54 form of divination]

gyve – noun: a shackle or fetter, esp. for the leg. verb: to shackle or fetter