gall

gall and wormwood

Strong feelings of bitterness and resentment. ("Gall" is bile and "wormwood" is a bitter plant.) Ever since I lost the election for school president, I only feel gall and wormwood when I think of my unworthy opponent.

See also: and, gall, wormwood

have the gall to do something

Fig. to have sufficient arrogance to do something. I bet you don't have the gall to argue with the mayor. Only Jane has the gall to ask the boss for a second raise this month.

See also: gall, have

dip your pen in gall

write unpleasantly or spitefully.

Gall is another word for bile, the bitter secretion of the liver; it is used in many places in the Bible as a metaphor for bitterness or affliction. See also wormwood and gall (at wormwood).

See also: dip, gall, pen

wormwood and gall

a source of bitter mortification and grief. literary

Gall is bile, a substance secreted by the liver and proverbial for its bitterness, while wormwood is an aromatic plant with a bitter taste. The expression originated in reference to various passages in the Bible, for example Lamentations 3:19: ‘Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall’.

See also: and, gall, wormwood