First Known Use: 1509
Dictionary
1gait
noun \ˈgāt\
: a particular way of walking
Full Definition of GAIT
1
: a manner of walking or moving on foot
2
: a sequence of foot movements (as a walk, trot, pace, or canter) by which a horse or a dog moves forward
3
: a manner or rate of movement or progress <the leisurely gait of summer>
See gait defined for English-language learners
See gait defined for kids
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Examples of GAIT
- They were orthopedic shoes built around molds of my feet, and they had a 2 1/4-inch lift. … they had given me a more or less even gait for the first time in 10 years. —Henry Louis Gates, Jr., New York Times Magazine, 9 Dec. 1990
- Interaction with the horse takes place on several levels. Physical communication is foremost. You learn its body language and it learns to respond to a body language you use to ask for changes in gait, direction, and body frame. —Maxine Kumin, In Deep, 1987
- How many prose writers can you identify from their style? Not many have that singular emanation from the temperament or those combinations of words all of them characteristic for a certain gait, a certain tone, a certain idiosyncratic consecutiveness of thought and image. —Paul West, New York Times Book Review, 15 Dec. 1985
- He walked with an odd gait, a kind of shuffle, pushing his feet along the floor without lifting them. —E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime, (1974) 1975
- They walked on with the same light gait, so nearly of a height that keeping step came as naturally to them as breathing. —Edith Wharton, The Reef, 1912
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Origin of GAIT
Middle English gait, gate gate, way
2gait
verb \ˈgāt\
Definition of GAIT
transitive verb
1
: to train (a horse or a dog) to use a particular gait or set of gaits
2
: to lead (a show dog) before a judge to display carriage and movement
intransitive verb
: to walk with a particular gait
Examples of GAIT
- Patricia Craige, who has guided Norwegian elkhounds to the final at Westminster eight times, gaited Ch. Vin-Melca's Bombardier to breed honors. —Walter R. Fletcher, New York Times,13 Feb. 1991
- As he watched the flashy dogs gaiting in the rings, he knew in his heart that he wanted to show dogs. Seeing the different breeds was thrilling. —Jacqueline Fraser, Dog Fancy, Sept. 1991
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Origin of GAIT
(see 1gait)
First Known Use: circa 1900
GAIT Defined for Kids
gait
noun \ˈgāt\
Definition of GAIT for Kids
: a way of walking or running
Medical Dictionary
gait
noun \ˈgāt\
Medical Definition of GAIT
1
: a manner of walking or moving on foot
2
: a sequence of foot movements (as a walk, trot, pace, or canter) by which a horse or a dog moves forward
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