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[gee] /gi/

noun
1.
a lightweight, two-piece, usually white garment worn by barefooted martial-arts participants, consisting of loose-fitting pants and a wraparound jacket with cloth belt.
1.
gilbert; gilberts.
[jee-ahy] /ˈdʒiˈaɪ/
noun, plural GI’s or GIs.
1.
a member or former member of the U.S. armed forces, especially an enlisted soldier.
adjective
2.
rigidly adhering to military regulations and practices; regimented; spit-and-polish:
a platoon leader who tried to be more GI than anyone else.
3.
of a standardized style or type issued by the U.S. armed forces:
GI shoes; GI blankets.
4.
conforming to the regulations or practices of the U.S. armed forces:
Every recruit must get a GI haircut.
5.
of, relating to, or characteristic of a U.S. enlisted person:
a typical peacetime GI complaint.
verb (used with object), GI’d, GI’ing.
6.
to clean in preparation for inspection:
to GI the barracks.
verb (used without object), GI’d, GI’ing.
7.
to follow military regulations and customs closely; shape up:
You’d better learn to GI if you want to be promoted.
1.
gill; gills.
1.
galvanized iron.
2.
.
3.
general issue.
4.
government issue.
[jee-ahyz] /ˈdʒiˈaɪz/
noun
1.
the GI’s, Slang. .
/ɡiː/
noun
1.
a loose-fitting white suit worn in judo, karate, and other martial arts: a karate gi
abbreviation
1.
Gibraltar
abbreviation
1.
gilbert
noun (US, informal)
1.
(pl) GIs, GI’s. a soldier in the US Army, esp an enlisted man
adjective
2.
conforming to US Army regulations; of standard government issue
abbreviation
1.
gastrointestinal
2.
glycaemic index

also GI, 1936 as an adjective meaning “U.S. Army equipment,” American English, apparently an abbreviation of Government Issue, and applied to anything associated with servicemen. Transferred sense of “U.S. Army soldier” arose during World War II (first recorded 1943), apparently from the jocular notion that the men themselves were manufactured by the government.

An earlier G.I. (1908) was an abbreviation of galvanized iron, especially in G.I. can, a type of metal trash can; the term was picked up by U.S. soldiers in World War I as slang for a similar-looking type of German artillery shells. But it is highly unlikely that this G.I. came to mean “soldier.” No two sources seem to agree on the entire etymology, but none backs the widespread notion that it stands for *General Infantry. GI Joe “any U.S. soldier” attested from 1942 (date in OED is a typo).

GI abbr.

adjective

Of, in, or from the US armed forces, esp the Army; government issue: GI shoes/ His officious ways are very GI (WWI armed forces)

noun

A member of the US armed forces, esp an enlisted Army soldier serving since or during World War II: The GIs fought furiously to hold Taejon (Armed forces)

verb

To scrub and make trim: They GIed the barracks every Friday night (WWII Army)

Related Terms

gi party, the gis

generic identifier

networking
The country code for Gibraltar.
(1999-01-27)
gill
1.
galvanized iron
2.
gastrointestinal
3.
general issue
4.
glycemic index
5.
Government Issue