ginger

Less common meanings

6. 6
   the colornouncountable or uncountable

   A reddish-brown color, ranging from an orange-tinged hue to a coppery brown.

   The designer mixed a rich ginger for the fall palette.

   His old armchair had faded to a dull ginger.

   Similarrusset, copper, rust

7. 7
   cautiousadjectivedialectalUKCanadaUS

   Marked by great care or caution; also, delicate or sensitive.

   They, the Rabbis, for better or for worse, were very ginger with this question.

   2006, John W. McGinley, About the King’s Choice to Build His Palace Right on Top of a Dunghill

   After a very ginger landing, everyone aboard was able to see up close how lucky they had been to reach base.

   2007, Flypast

   UsageYou can be ginger with something: careful in dealing with it.

   Similargingerly

   Oppositecareless, reckless

   Note

   Gingerly came first; this adjective was formed backward from it by dropping what looked like an adverb ending. It survives regionally in Britain, Canada and the US. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The cautious adjective ginger is a back-formation from the earlier adverb gingerly, with -ly removed. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   flavor foodverbtransitive

   To season or flavor a dish or drink by adding ginger to it.

   The chef likes to ginger the sauce lightly before serving it with the salmon.

   He gingered the broth until it had a sharp, warm bite.

   Similarspice, season, flavor

9. 9
   verbidiomatictransitive

   To make something or someone livelier, more active, or more exciting (often 'ginger up').

   The director tried to ginger the second act with a new song.

   The team needed a quick goal to ginger up the quiet crowd.

   UsageUsually ginger up, before or after the object: ginger up the crowd, ginger things up.

   Similarenliven, liven, energize, animate

   Note

   Lawrence Durrell's fire-eating young general would ginger things up. DeMille, accused of gingering up the Bible with sex and violence, shows that the phrase can carry a reproach. The figure comes from the spice's bite, whether from adding the spice to food or from the old stable trick of gingering a horse. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Lawrence Durrell describes a fire-eating young general who would ginger things up. en.wiktionary.org
   • DeMille reported being accused of gingering up the Bible with sex and violence. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    any sodanoundialectalScotlandcountable or uncountable

    Any fizzy soft drink, or a can or bottle of one; soda or pop.

    Back in Scotland, he still asks for a bottle of ginger when he wants a cola.

    "Want some ginger?" his Scottish aunt asked, holding up a can of cola.

    Similarpop, soda

    Note

    In Scotland, and especially in Glasgow, the word has come loose from its flavor. Here ginger is fizzy juice of any kind, so "a can of ginger" says nothing about what is inside. It sits beside soda, pop and fizzy juice as one regional name among several. A BBC report of 2015 notes the local belief that "ginger" tastes best from glass. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • A 2015 BBC report records the belief that ginger tastes best from glass. bbc.com
11. 11
    step carefullyverbintransitive

    To make one's way gingerly, taking each step with great caution.

    With a sprained ankle, he gingered his way across the crowded gym to the bench.

    On the narrow ledge, the hikers had to ginger their way along with their backs pressed to the cliff.

    UsageUsually ginger your way across or into something.

    Similaredge, inch, tiptoe, creep

    Note

    The cautious verb belongs to the same back-formed family as the careful adjective. It usually appears as ginger one's way across or into something: "She gingered her way into the river" (Bill Marshall, Bukom, 1979). It can also take an object eased carefully into place, as when Donald Anderson writes "I gingered my hands into my grandfather's gloves." Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The cautious verb and adjective share a back-formation from gingerly. en.wiktionary.org
    • Bill Marshall's Bukom contains the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
    • Donald Anderson wrote the quoted sentence illustrating careful insertion. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    horse trickverbtransitive

    To apply ginger to a horse's anus so that it carries its tail high and moves in a lively way.

    Crooked dealers learned to ginger a tired animal so buyers paid more.

    The groom gingered the gelding before leading it into the ring.

    Note

    A stable practice of the nineteenth century that was argued over in print. The Veterinarian of 1850 records a buyer who "gingered him" after the sale, and The Veterinary Journal and Annals of Comparative Pathology in 1884 judged that "gingering is decided cruelty." Baily's Magazine of 1893 describes a show horse "well gingered." The literal treatment gives a crude, physical picture of the figurative ginger up. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Gingering horses was a nineteenth-century practice criticized in print. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Veterinarian in 1850 records a buyer saying that he gingered the horse after buying it. en.wiktionary.org
    • Its title in 1884 was The Veterinary Journal and Annals of Comparative Pathology. British Veterinary Journal became its title in 1949. en.wikipedia.org
    • The 1884 volume contains the words “Gingering is decided cruelty.” en.wiktionary.org
    • Baily's Magazine in 1893 describes a horse appearing for a show as “well gingered.” en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    adverbdialectal

    With great caution, or in a delicate and sensitive way.
14. 14
    nouncolloquial

    Vitality, vigor, and liveliness of character; the energetic spirit someone brings to what they do.

    The party managers demanded more “ginger.”

    1919, John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace
15. 15
    nounslangUK

    A homosexual person.
16. 16
    adjectiveslangUK

    Homosexual; a chiefly British slang usage.