Meaning
GIN, n. A contraction of Geneva, a distilled spirit. [See Geneva.]
GIN, n. [A contraction of engine.] A machine or instrument by which the mechanical powers are employed in aid of human strength. The word is applied to various engines, as a machine for driving piles, another for raising weights, _c., and a machine for separating the See ds from cotton, invented by E.Whitney, is called a cotton-gin. It is also the name given to an engine of torture, and to a pump moved by rotary sails.
1. A trap; a snare.
GIN, v.t. To clear cotton of its See ds by a machine which separates them with expedition.
1. To catch in a trap.
GIN, v.i. To begin.
