gamb en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ɡamb/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ɡæmb/ (General-American)
Etymology
From Middle French gambe (variant of jambe) from Late Latin gamba (hoof, leg, shank). Doublet of jamb, gamba, and gam.
Meanings
-
The leg or shank, typically of an animal, especially of a lion, on a coat of arms, crest, etc.
Vachell, Eng. a bull's gamb in pale, couped, argent. […] Vaughan of Littleton, Middlesex, a lion's gamb, or, holding a human heart, gules.
1817, Alexander Deuchar, British Crests: containing the crests and mottos of the families of Great Britain and Ireland; together with those of the principal cities; and a glossary of heraldic terms ... Embellished with nearly fourteen hundred crests, engraved by Robert Kirkwood, from original drawings, by G. Sanders, and J. Grant, page 284:
-
(slang) A person's leg; gam.
[…] but Heavens above what a pair of gambs! Stems. What the vulgar call legs.
1954, Gerald Kersh, Guttersnipe: Little Novels, page 211:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| gambe | alternative | lexicographic | |
| gambs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |