- Enter a word for the dictionary definition.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Gorget \Gor"get\, n. [OF. gorgete, dim. of gorge throat. See Gorge, n.] 1. A piece of armor, whether of chain mail or of plate, defending the throat and upper part of the breast, and forming a part of the double breastplate of the 14th century. [1913 Webster] 2. A piece of plate armor covering the same parts and worn over the buff coat in the 17th century, and without other steel armor. [1913 Webster] Unfix the gorget's iron clasp. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster] 3. A small ornamental plate, usually crescent-shaped, and of gilded copper, formerly hung around the neck of officers in full uniform in some modern armies. [1913 Webster] 4. A ruff worn by women. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] 5. (Surg.) (a) A cutting instrument used in lithotomy. (b) A grooved instrunent used in performing various operations; -- called also blunt gorget. --Dunglison. [1913 Webster] 6. (Zool.) A crescent-shaped, colored patch on the neck of a bird or mammal. [1913 Webster] Gorget hummer (Zool.), a humming bird of the genus Trochilus. See Rubythroat. [1913 Webster]