Main definitions of gild in English

: gild¹ gild²

gild¹

verb

[with object]

Cover thinly with gold.
‘in 1436 he gilded and painted statues for Bruges Town Hall’
figurative ‘the first rays of the sun were gilding the grassy hillside’
- ‘The photographs also record, albeit subtly, the wear that evidences the many people who have gathered together under these gilded ceilings.’
- ‘The objects were carefully arranged in groups in carved and gilded wooden cabinets.’
- ‘Most were gilded, although painted faux-marble frames are also found.’
- ‘The doors were ornately carved and gilded with glistening gold.’
- ‘While most were of a standard alloy of leaded bronze some were gilded or made in gold or silver.’
- ‘Almost everything was gilded in gold, and the room seemed to sparkle.’
- ‘On a gray ground, molded and gilded leaf-and-flower motifs cover the nearly flat bottom of the body.’
- ‘The entrance is shaded by several painted and gilded roofs supported by marble columns.’
- ‘There was a great white and gold fireplace and even a little gilded coffee table with a silver tea set sitting quaintly in the centre of the room.’
- ‘The walls were light pink and the ceiling was gilded.’
- ‘After the castings were attached, the entire frame was gilded in antique gold.’
- ‘Gold and silver medals must be made of 92.5 percent pure silver; the gold medal must be gilded with at least six grams of gold.’
- ‘If ever a palace came close to encapsulating what they describe in the fairy tales, this would be it, all spires, towers, and gilded gates.’
- ‘The porcelain handles, which curve to enclose florets, are gilded to imitate gilt bronze.’
- ‘The hand-carved and gilded wooden models, which fill the room, give expression to extravagant architectural dreams that could never have been built.’
- ‘They came to it rather quickly, the largest building in the village that was covered in jewels and gilded with gold.’
- ‘The sun lanced through the overcast veil of blizzard-clouds and snow-squalls and gilded the twin vessels in shining gold.’
- ‘Elaborately carved woodwork and paneling called boiseries, often gilded or spiced with gold leaf, replaced solid wood trim.’
- ‘They crept out of the city under the oppressive darkness, and were on the slave roads once more by the time the sun burned through the dry clouds and gilded the plains.’
- ‘The sun rose gracefully, and gilded the glorious Welsh hillsides with soft light.’
cover with gold, paint gold, lacquer gold, inlay with gold
gold-covered, gold-painted, gold-lacquered, gold-inlaid
View synonyms

Phrases

gild the lily

Try to improve what is already beautiful or excellent.
- ‘I will not gild the lily; I will say exactly what happened.’
- ‘Yes, the producers gild the lily when they claim to be ‘now, for the first time’ revealing things about the five leaders being examined.’
- ‘They believe they are right, and have never gilded the lily.’
- ‘But all of them simply gild the lily.’
- ‘I feel that commenting on this response would be gilding the lily.’
- ‘If you want to gild the lily, scatter over grated cheddar cheese and return to oven until oozy and golden brown.’
- ‘It is not necessary to gild the lily by over ornate presentation.’
- ‘But I'm not gilding the lily, I truly thought it was impossible, and I refused to address myself emotionally.’
- ‘I like his playing, and he is a fine musician, but sometimes it feels like he is gilding the lily in these performances.’
- ‘‘Today we were magnificent,’ said O'Neill. somewhat gilding the lily.’