geld

UK: /ɡɛld/ US: /gɛld/ ,(geld)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

geld¹ /gɛld/   v. [~ + object] , geld•ed or gelt/gɛlt/  geld•ing. 

1. Animal Husbandry to remove the sex organs of (a horse or other animal);
   castrate:
   to geld a stallion.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

geld¹  (geld), v.t., geld•ed or gelt, geld•ing. 

1. Animal Husbandry to castrate (an animal, esp. a horse).
2. to take strength, vitality, or power from;
   weaken or subdue.

• Old Norse gelda
• Middle English gelden 1250–1300

geld′er, n. 

geld²  (geld), n. [Eng. Hist.]

1. World History a payment;
   tax.
2. World History a tax paid to the crown by landholders under the Anglo-Saxon and Norman kings.

• Gmc; compare Old English geld, German Geld
• Medieval Latin geldum payment, tribute
• 1600–10

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

geld / ɡɛld/ verb (gelds, gelding, gelded, gelt)(transitive)

1. to castrate (a horse or other animal)
2. to deprive of virility or vitality; emasculate; weaken

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old Norse gelda, from geldr barren