gelt

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Pronunciation

• (British) IPA: /ɡɛlt/

Noun

gelt (plural gelts)

1. (rare) A lunatic.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.7:

     She […] like a ghastly Gelt whose wits are reaved, / Ran forth in hast with hideous outcry […]

Noun

gelt (plural gelts)

1. (obsolete) Gilding; gilt.

Verb

1. Simple past tense and past participle of geld

Noun

gelt (plural gelts)

1. A gelding.

Noun

gelt (uncountable)

1. (slang) Money.
   • 1948, William Burroughs, letter, 5 Jun 1948:

     Have bought some farm land in Rio Grande Valley which should bring in a sizeable bundle of gelts come cotton picking time.

   • 1969, Robert L. Vann, The Competitor (volumes 2-3, page 135)

     The miser, a-seeking lost gelt, / The doughboy, awaiting the battle, / May possibly know how I felt / While the long years dragged by as the dealer / As slow as the slowest of dubs, / Stuck out the last helping of tickets / 'Till I lifted—the Bullet of Clubs!

2. Tribute; tax.

   • All these the king granted unto them […] free from all gelts and payments, in a most full and ample manner.

Noun

gelt (uncountable)

1. (Judaism) Money, especially that given as a gift on Hanukkah or used in games of dreidel.
2. (Judaism) Chocolate candy in the shape of coins, usually wrapped in metallic foil, usually eaten on Hanukkah and often used for games of dreidel.
3. (archaic, UK, thieves and Polari) Money.

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