gi

1 of 6

adjective

ˌjē-ˈī

: provided by an official U.S. military supply department

GI shoes

: of, relating to, or characteristic of U.S. military personnel

: conforming to military regulations or customs

a GI haircut

3 of 6

noun

plural GIs or GI's ˌjē-ˈīz

: a member or former member of the U.S. armed forces

especially : a man enlisted in the army

4 of 6

verb

GI'd ˌjē-ˈīd ; GI'ing ˌjē-ˈī-iŋ

transitive verb

: to clean (something) thoroughly in preparation for or as if for a military inspection

The barracks … were in fine order—they'd been GI'd the night before.—New Republic

6 of 6

abbreviation (2)

galvanized iron

gastrointestinal

general issue; government issue

glycemic index

Examples of gi in a Sentence

Verb in preparation for one of her mother-in-law's dreaded visits, she had GI'd the whole house

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Noun

Last year, The All-American Rejects performed at the Fandom Party, SPYAIR and Denzel Curry headlined the Crunchyroll Anime FanFest, and GI Joe’s Cold Slither debuted. — Laura Sirikul, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026 Pasta has a low to moderate glycemic index (GI), which measures how quickly blood sugar rises and falls after eating a certain food. — Brittany Lubeck, Verywell Health, 24 July 2026 Chan is co-founder of the Chinese American GI Project, which works to ensure that veteran legacies are not lost, forgotten or ignored. — Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 19 July 2026 The outbreak, which was reported to the agency’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) on July 12, marks the ship’s third GI illness outbreak in two months, with the first being reported on May 28 and the second on June 28. — Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 17 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for gi

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

galvanized iron; from abbreviation used in listing such articles as garbage cans, but taken as abbreviation for government issue

First Known Use

Adjective

1926, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1943, in the meaning defined above

Adverb

1949, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1951, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of gi was in 1926

See more words from the same year

Browse Nearby Words

GHz

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Gi.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gi. Accessed 1 Aug. 2026.

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Kids Definition

1 of 2 adjective

(ˈ)jē-ˈī

: of, relating to, or characteristic of U.S. military forces

2 of 2 noun

plural GIs or GI's

: a member or former member of the U.S. armed forces

Etymology

Adjective

from the abbreviation for galvanized iron used in listing such articles as garbage cans, but mistaken as standing for government issue

Medical Definition

abbreviation

(ˈ)jē-ˈī

gastrointestinal

glycemic index

gi

abbreviation (1)

adjective

noun

adverb

verb

abbreviation (2)

Synonyms of gi

Examples of gi in a Sentence

Word History

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Kids Definition

Medical Definition

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