| Library / English Dictionary |
GALLANTRY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Polite attentiveness to women
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("gallantry" is a kind of...):
courtesy (a courteous or respectful or considerate act)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The qualities of a hero or heroine; exceptional or heroic courage when facing danger (especially in battle)
Example:
he received a medal for valor
Synonyms:
gallantry; heroism; valiance; valiancy; valor; valorousness; valour
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("gallantry" is a kind of...):
braveness; bravery; courage; courageousness (a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Courtesy towards women
Synonyms:
chivalry; gallantry; politesse
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("gallantry" is a kind of...):
courtesy; good manners (a courteous manner)
Context examples:
And yet, in spite of all these disadvantages, there was a certain nobility in the woman’s bearing—a gallantry in the defiant chin and in the upraised head, which compelled something of respect and admiration.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I don't know that I supposed anything of the kind, but I felt it an act of gallantry to say something; and a shining sail close to us made such a pretty little image of itself, at the moment, in her bright eye, that it came into my head to say this.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
I had a theoretical reverence and homage for beauty, elegance, gallantry, fascination; but had I met those qualities incarnate in masculine shape, I should have known instinctively that they neither had nor could have sympathy with anything in me, and should have shunned them as one would fire, lightning, or anything else that is bright but antipathetic.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
These letters were but the vehicle for gallantry and trick.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
There can be no want of gallantry, Admiral, in rating the claims of women to every personal comfort high, and this is what I do.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
She was happy even when they did take place; but not from any flow of spirits on his side, or any such expressions of tender gallantry as had blessed the morning.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
She held out her hand; he kissed it with affectionate gallantry, though he hardly knew how to look, and they entered the house.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
I have said already that Boy Jim had no love for his books, but by that I meant school-books, for when it came to the reading of romances or of anything which had a touch of gallantry or adventure, there was no tearing him away from it until it was finished.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But as we drew nearer to the end of our journey, he had more to do and less time for gallantry; and when we got on Yarmouth pavement, we were all too much shaken and jolted, I apprehend, to have any leisure for anything else.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Catherine was the immediate object of his gallantry; and, while they waited in the lobby for a chair, he prevented the inquiry which had travelled from her heart almost to the tip of her tongue, by asking, in a consequential manner, whether she had seen him talking with General Tilney: He is a fine old fellow, upon my soul!
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
