n., adj., & v.
--n.
1. a a hot spicy root usu. powdered for use in cooking, or preserved in syrup, or candied. b the plant, Zingiber officinale, of SE Asia, having this root.
2 a light reddish-yellow colour.
3 spirit, mettle.
4 stimulation.
--adj. of a ginger colour.
--v.tr.
1. flavour with ginger.
2 (foll. by up) rouse or enliven.
Phrases and idioms:
black ginger unscraped ginger. ginger ale an effervescent non-alcoholic clear drink flavoured with ginger extract. ginger beer an effervescent mildly alcoholic cloudy drink, made by fermenting a mixture of ginger and syrup. ginger group Brit. a group within a party or movement that presses for stronger or more radical policy or action. ginger-nut a ginger-flavoured biscuit. ginger-pop colloq. ginger ale. ginger-snap a thin brittle biscuit flavoured with ginger. ginger wine a drink of fermented sugar, water, and bruised ginger.
Derivatives:
gingery adj.
Etymology: ME f. OE gingiber & OF gingi(m)bre, both f. med.L gingiber ult. f. Skr. srngaveram f. srngam horn + -vera body, with ref. to the antler-shape of the root