GIN, n. A contraction of Geneva, a distilled spirit. See Geneva.
GIN, n. A contraction of engine. A machine or instrument by which the mechanical powers are employed in aid of human strength. The word is applied to various engines, as a machine for driving piles, another for raising weights, &c., and a machine for separating the seeds from cotton, invented by E.Whitney, is called a cotton-gin. It is also the name given to an engine of torture, and to a pump moved by rotary sails.
1. A trap a snare.
GIN, To clear cotton of its seeds by a machine which separates them with expedition.
1. To catch in a trap.
GIN, To begin.