gin (2), ginne (1), gyn (1), gynne (1)

[A contraction of Fr. eng in, from Lat. ingenium =a contrivance.] [ENGINE.] *I. Ordinary Language : 1. A mechanical contrivance or engine; a machine. "[They] granten to lend to the seid John Was tell sum parte of old scaffoldyng, tymbre, and the use of certayne stuff, and nece aryes there, as gynnes, wels, cables, ." -Walpole : Anecdotes , 1.; App . Indenture, 4 Henry VIII. 2. An engine of torture. "Typhæus ioynts were streached on a gin . These us condemned to endle slouth by law; And fifty sisters water in leke ve els draw." Spenser: F. Q., I. v. 35. 3. Mechanism; mechanical arrangement. "Bid him descend, and trill another pin (For therin lieth the effect of all the gin ), And he wol doun descend, and don your will." Chaucer: C. Т. , 10,636. II. Machinery : 1. A portable hoisting-machine whose frame is a tripod, one leg being movable so as to vary its angle of elevation, and thus determine the height of the apex; the other two legs preserve their relative distance, and form standards for the drum, round which the rope is wound by power applied to the handspikes. For heavy weights a fall and tackle is used; and for hoisting a bucket from a well or mine, simply a couple of pulleys to change the direction of motion of the rope. One pulley is suspended from the apex, and the other attached between the two permanent legs, so as to change the rope to a horizontal position, for the attachment of a draught horse. 2. A pump operated by windmill. "No gins or machines could suffice to lay and keep them dry."-Ray: The Creation , ii. 3. A coal-hoisting machine; a whin. 4. A machine for separating cotton-fiber from the IMG:content-0462.png:[blocks in formation] Mining: A miner's term for the horse-track of a whin or hoisting apparatus.