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In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed... No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people. Preface to 1828 Dictionary
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GI'ANT, n. [L. gigas; Gr. probably from the earth. The word originally signified earth-born, terrigena. The ancients believed the first inhabitants of the earth to be produced from the ground and to be of enormous size.]
Giants-causey, a vast collection of basaltic pillars in the county of Antrim, in Ireland.
GI'ANT, a. Like a giant; extraordinary in size or strength; as giant brothers; a giant son.
A man of extraordinari bulk and
stature.
Giants of mighty bone and bold emprise. Milton. A person of extraordinary strength or
powers, bodily or intellectual.
Any animal, plant, or thing, of
extraordinary size or power.
Giant's Causeway, a vast collection of basaltic pillars, in the county of Antrim on the northern coast of Ireland. Like a giant;
extraordinary in size, strength, or power; as, giant brothers;
a giant son.
Giant cell. (Anat.) See Myeloplax. -- Giant clam (Zoöl.), a bivalve shell of the genus Tridacna, esp. T. gigas, which sometimes weighs 500 pounds. The shells are sometimes used in churches to contain holy water. -- Giant heron (Zoöl.), a very large African heron (Ardeomega goliath). It is the largest heron known. -- Giant kettle, a pothole of very large dimensions, as found in Norway in connection with glaciers. See Pothole. -- Giant powder. See Nitroglycerin. -- Giant puffball (Bot.), a fungus (Lycoperdon giganteum), edible when young, and when dried used for stanching wounds. -- Giant salamander (Zoöl.), a very large aquatic salamander (Megalobatrachus maximus), found in Japan. It is the largest of living Amphibia, becoming a yard long. -- Giant squid (Zoöl.), one of several species of very large squids, belonging to Architeuthis and allied genera. Some are over forty feet long. | ||||||||