n. [ OE. ginger, gingever, gingivere, OF. gengibre, gingimbre, F. gingembre, L. zingiber, zingiberi, fr. Gr. &unr_;; of Oriental origin; cf. Ar. & Pers. zenjebīl, fr. Skr. ç&rsdot_;&ndot_;gavëra, prop., hornshaped; &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;ga horn + vëra body. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Zingiber, of the East and West Indies. The species most known is Zingiber officinale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The hot and spicy rootstock of Zingiber officinale, which is much used in cookery and in medicine. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ginger ale (a) a soft drink flavored with ginger and carbonated. (a) See ginger beer, below. --
Ginger beer or
Ginger ale, a mild beer impregnated with ginger. --
Ginger cordial, a liquor made from ginger, raisins, lemon rind, and water, and sometimes whisky or brandy. --
Ginger pop. See Ginger ale (above). --
Ginger wine, wine impregnated with ginger. --
Wild ginger (Bot.), an American herb (Asarum Canadense) with two reniform leaves and a long, cordlike rootstock which has a strong taste of ginger. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A kind of plain sweet cake seasoned with ginger, and sometimes made in fanciful shapes. “Gingerbread that was full fine.” Chaucer.

[ 1913 Webster ]

Gingerbread tree (Bot.), the doom palm; -- so called from the resemblance of its fruit to gingerbread. See Doom Palm. --
Gingerbread work, ornamentation, in architecture or decoration, of a fantastic, trivial, or tawdry character. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Prov. E. ginger brittle, tender; cf. dial. Sw. gingla, gängla, to go gently, totter, akin to E. gang. ] Cautiously; timidly; fastidiously; daintily. [ 1913 Webster ]

What is't that you took up so gingerly ? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Cautiousness; tenderness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The pungent rhizome of the common ginger plant; -- it is used fresh as a seasoning, especially in Oriental cookery.
Syn. -- ginger. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A crisp cookie flavored with ginger. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. tasting of ginger; spicy; -- used of tastes.
Syn. -- hot, peppery, spicy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]