gild
31gild the lily — meaning ‘to try to improve what is already as beautiful as it can be’, is a not quite accurate quotation from Shakespeare, King John iv.ii.11: To gilde refined Gold, to paint the Lilly; To throw a perfume on the Violet, [etc.] …
32gild socialism — gild socialism, = guild socialism. (Cf. ↑guild socialism) …
33gild|ing — «GIHL dihng», noun. 1. a thin layer of gold or similar material with which a thing is gilded. 2. the act of covering with such a layer. 3. a gilded thing or surface. 4. Figurative. an attractive coating; veneer: »a gilding of politeness …
34gild-taile — obs. var. gilt tail …
35gild the lily — verb 1. adorn unnecessarily (something that is already beautiful) • Syn: ↑paint the lily • Hypernyms: ↑decorate, ↑adorn, ↑grace, ↑ornament, ↑embellish, ↑beautify …
36gild the lily — also[paint the lily] {v. phr.} To add unnecessarily to something already beautiful or good enough. * /To talk about a beautiful sunset is to gild the lily./ * /For the beautiful girl to use makeup would be to gild the lily./ * /Frank s father is… …
37gild the lily — also[paint the lily] {v. phr.} To add unnecessarily to something already beautiful or good enough. * /To talk about a beautiful sunset is to gild the lily./ * /For the beautiful girl to use makeup would be to gild the lily./ * /Frank s father is… …
38gild, guild — To gild something is to overlay it with gold. A guild is an association or union. The potter will gild this vase for you. Joe belonged to a guild of craftsmen …
39gild the lily — The passage from Shakespeare’s King John is: To gild refined gold, to paint the lily ... Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. Thus it is both wrong and hackneyed to speak of gilding the lily in the sense of overdoing something …
40gild the lily — The passage from Shakespeare s King John is To gild refined gold, to paint the lily. . ./Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. Thus it is both wrong and resorting to a woeful cliche to speak of gilding the lily in the sense of overdoing something …
