noun

1. Archaic a belt or sash for the waist
2. anything that surrounds or encircles
3. ☆ a woman's elasticized undergarment for supporting or molding the waist and hips
4. the rim of a cut gem
5. ☆ a ring made by removing bark around the trunk of a tree, so as to kill it
6. Anat. a bony arch or encircling structure supporting the limbs the pelvic girdle

Etymology: ME girdil < OE gyrdel < base of gyrdan (see gird): akin to Ger gürtel

transitive verb girdled -·dled, girdling -·dling

1. to surround or bind, as with a girdle
2. to encircle
3. ☆ to remove a ring of bark from (a tree) as by cutting or chewing