92 words starting with G

• gain verb

  to get or increase something useful, such as weight, skill or experience

  You gain a lot of experience by working on real projects.

  Like get, acquire, earn

• gallery noun

  a room or building where art is shown to the public

  We saw old paintings of Bhaktapur in the city’s art gallery.

  Like exhibition hall, art museum

• game noun

  an activity with rules that people play for fun or to win

  Chess is a game that needs careful thinking.

• gap noun

  an empty space or opening between two things

  The cat squeezed through a narrow gap in the fence.

  Like opening, space

• garden noun

  a piece of land where flowers, vegetables or plants are grown

  We grow tomatoes and beans in our garden.

  Like yard

• gas noun

  a substance like air that is not solid or liquid; fuel for cooking or cars

  Steam is water in the form of a gas.

  Like vapor

• gate noun

  a door in a fence or wall that opens to let people in or out

  Please close the gate so the goats don’t get out.

• gather verb

  to come together in a group; to collect things from different places

  The students gathered in the hall for assembly.

  Like collect, assemble, meet

• gauge verb

  to measure or judge something, often roughly

  The teacher asked a few questions to gauge how much we remembered.

  Like measure, judge, estimate

• gay adjective

  attracted to people of the same sex

  The library has books about famous gay scientists and artists.

• gaze verb

  to look at something steadily for a long time

  We gazed at the stars from the rooftop.

  Like stare

• gear noun

  the equipment needed for an activity; a toothed wheel in a machine

  We packed our climbing gear the night before the trek.

  Like equipment, kit

• gender noun

  the state of being male or female

  The survey asked for each student’s age and gender.

  Like sex

• gene noun

  a tiny part of a cell, passed from parents to children, that controls features like eye color

  You got the gene for curly hair from your mother.

• general adjective

  about the main parts, not the details; true for most people or cases

  The teacher gave us a general idea of the story before we read it.

  Like broad, overall

• generalization noun

  a broad statement based on only a few examples

  Saying that all cats hate water is a generalization.

• generalize verb

  to form a broad rule or idea from a few cases

  It is unwise to generalize about a whole country after one short visit.

• generally adverb

  usually or in most cases

  I generally walk to school, but today I took the bus.

  Like usually, mostly

• generate verb

  to produce or create something, especially energy

  The river’s flowing water is used to generate electricity for the village.

  Like produce, create

• generation noun

  all the people born and living at about the same time

  My grandmother’s generation did not have mobile phones.

  Like age group

• genetic adjective

  relating to genes, which parents pass on to their children

  Eye color is a genetic trait that children get from their parents.

  Like hereditary

• genetically adverb

  through the genes passed from parents to their young

  Identical twins are genetically the same, so they often look almost alike.

• genetics noun

  the study of how features are passed from parents to their young through genes

  Genetics explains why children often have the same eye color as their parents.

• gentle adjective

  kind and calm; not strong or rough

  A gentle breeze moved the leaves.

  Like mild, soft, kind

• gentleman noun

  a polite word for a man; a man who is polite and kind

  A gentleman helped my grandmother carry her bags onto the bus.

• gently adverb

  in a soft, careful way

  Pick up the baby bird gently.

  Like softly, carefully

• genuine adjective

  real and true, not fake

  Is this a genuine diamond or just glass?

  Like real, authentic, true

• gesture noun

  a movement of the hands or head that shows a meaning

  She waved her hand in a friendly gesture to say hello.

  Like sign, signal, motion

• get verb

  to receive or obtain something; to become

  I get a letter from my cousin in Pokhara every month.

  Like receive, obtain

• ghost noun

  the spirit of a dead person that some people believe can be seen

  My little cousin dressed as a friendly ghost for the school play.

  Like spirit, phantom

• giant adjective

  extremely large

  A giant wave crashed onto the beach and soaked everyone.

  Like huge, enormous

• gift noun

  something you give to someone without asking for payment

  My aunt brought me a book as a gift for Dashain.

  Like present

• girl noun

  a female child or young woman

  The girl in the front row asked a clever question.

• give verb

  to hand something to someone so that they have it

  My aunt gave me a book about stars for my birthday.

  Like hand, offer, present

• glad adjective

  happy and pleased about something

  I am glad that you came to visit us.

  Like happy, pleased, delighted

• glance verb

  to look at something quickly

  She glanced at the clock and saw she was late.

  Like glimpse, peek

• glass noun

  a hard clear material used for windows; a cup made of it

  Pour some water into a glass.

• global adjective

  about or affecting the whole world

  Global warming is raising temperatures all over the world.

  Like worldwide

• globalization noun

  the process by which countries’ trade, businesses and cultures become closely connected

  Because of globalization, you can buy Nepali tea in shops around the world.

• go verb

  to move from one place to another

  We go to my grandmother’s village in the hills every Dashain.

  Like travel, move, head

• goal noun

  something you want to achieve; the net or point scored in games like football

  Her goal is to become a doctor.

  Like aim, target

• goat noun

  a farm animal with horns and a short beard, kept for milk and meat

  The goat climbed the steep rocks behind the farmhouse with ease.

• god noun

  a being believed to have power over nature and human life

  Many temples in Bhaktapur are built for Hindu gods and goddesses.

  Like deity

• gold noun

  a valuable shiny yellow metal used for jewelry and coins

  Her earrings are made of gold and were a gift from her grandmother.

• golden adjective

  made of gold or having the color of gold

  The temple roof shone golden in the evening sun.

  Like gold

• golf noun

  a game in which players hit a small ball into holes with clubs

  My uncle plays golf on a course near the airport.

• good adjective

  of high quality or pleasing; kind and well behaved

  She is a good singer, and everyone claps when she finishes.

  Like fine, excellent, nice

• goodness noun

  the quality of being kind, honest and helpful

  Everyone in the village praised the goodness of the old doctor.

  Like kindness, virtue

• goods noun

  things that are made or grown to be sold

  Trucks carry goods from India to Kathmandu every day.

  Like products, merchandise

• govern verb

  to officially control and run a country, city or group

  A council of elected members governs the city of Lalitpur.

  Like rule, run, manage

• government noun

  the group of people who officially run a country or area

  The government built a new road to the mountain villages.

  Like administration, state

• governor noun

  a person who leads a state or province, or an organization such as a central bank

  The governor of the central bank announced new banknotes.

• grab verb

  to take hold of something quickly and roughly

  She grabbed her umbrella as she ran out the door.

  Like seize, snatch, grasp

• grade noun

  a level of study at school; a mark given for school work

  My brother is in grade eight and I am in grade six.

  Like class, mark, level

• gradient noun

  how steep a slope is; a gradual change in a quantity across a space

  The road to Nagarkot has a steep gradient near the top.

  Like slope, incline

• gradually adverb

  slowly, little by little, over time

  The sky gradually turned from orange to dark blue after sunset.

  Like slowly, steadily

• graduate verb

  to finish a course of study at a school or university

  My sister will graduate from university next year.

• grain noun

  the seeds of crops like wheat and rice; a tiny hard piece

  Farmers store their grain in large baskets.

  Like seed; particle

• gram noun

  a small metric unit of mass; one thousandth of a kilogram

  A paper clip has a mass of about one gram.

• grammar noun

  the rules for how words are put together in a language

  Good grammar helps make your writing clear.

• grammatical adjective

  following the rules of a language for forming sentences

  The teacher underlined every grammatical mistake in my essay.

• grand adjective

  large and impressive

  The palace had a grand hall with golden pillars.

  Like magnificent, splendid

• grandmother noun

  the mother of your father or mother

  My grandmother makes the best sel roti during Tihar.

  Like grandma, granny

• grant noun

  money given by a government or group for a special purpose

  The school got a grant to build a new science lab.

  Like award, funding

• graph noun

  a diagram that shows how two sets of numbers are related

  We drew a graph showing the daily temperature in Pokhara for a month.

  Like chart

• grasp verb

  to hold something firmly; to understand something fully

  Most students grasped the idea of photosynthesis after the experiment.

  Like grip, understand

• grass noun

  a common green plant with thin leaves that covers fields and lawns

  The goats spent the afternoon eating grass on the hillside.

• grateful adjective

  feeling or showing thanks

  I am grateful to my teacher for helping me with my project.

  Like thankful

• gravity noun

  the force that pulls objects toward each other, such as toward the Earth

  Gravity makes an apple fall to the ground.

• gray adjective

  having the color between black and white, like ash or rain clouds

  Gray clouds gathered over the hills before the storm.

• great adjective

  very good or excellent; very large in size or amount

  We had a great time at the zoo on Saturday.

  Like excellent, wonderful, huge

• greatly adverb

  very much

  Your help greatly improved my science project, and the judges noticed.

  Like much, hugely

• green adjective

  having the color of grass and leaves

  After the monsoon, the hills are bright green.

• greet verb

  to say hello or welcome someone when you meet

  We greeted our guests with “Namaste” at the door.

  Like welcome

• grid noun

  a pattern of straight lines that cross to form squares

  We plotted the points on a grid in our math notebooks.

  Like mesh

• grin verb

  to smile widely

  He grinned when he heard he had won.

  Like smile, beam

• gross adjective

  total, before anything is taken away; very unpleasant

  The gross weight of the box, including packing, was ten kilograms.

  Like total, whole

• ground noun

  the surface of the earth that we walk on

  The apples fell from the tree to the ground.

  Like earth

• group noun

  a number of people or things that are together

  A group of students went to visit the science museum.

  Like team, set, crowd

• grow verb

  to become bigger or develop over time; to plant and care for something

  With enough sun and water, sunflowers can grow taller than a grown man.

  Like develop, increase, cultivate

• growth noun

  the process of getting bigger or developing

  Sunlight helps the growth of young plants.

  Like development, increase

• guarantee noun

  a promise that something will happen or that a product will work

  The watch comes with a one-year guarantee.

  Like promise, warranty

• guard noun

  a person whose job is to protect a place or people

  A guard stands at the gate of the museum.

  Like watchman

• guess verb

  to give an answer without knowing for sure

  Can you guess how many marbles are in the jar?

  Like estimate, suppose

• guest noun

  a person who is invited to visit your home or an event

  We cleaned the house because guests were coming for dinner.

  Like visitor

• guide noun

  a person who shows visitors the way and tells them about a place

  Our guide explained the history of each temple in Patan.

  Like leader, escort

• guideline noun

  advice or a rule about how something should be done

  The teacher gave us guidelines for writing the report.

  Like instruction, rule

• guilty adjective

  having broken a rule or law; feeling bad because you did something wrong

  I felt guilty for eating the last piece of cake without asking anyone.

  Like ashamed, responsible

• guitar noun

  a musical instrument with six strings that you play with your fingers

  My brother plays the guitar while we sing.

• gun noun

  a weapon that fires bullets through a metal tube

  The museum showed an old gun that hunters once used in the forest.

  Like firearm

• gut noun

  the tube through which food passes in the body, especially the stomach and intestines

  Healthy bacteria in your gut help you digest food.

  Like intestines

• guy noun

  a man (informal)

  The guy at the ticket counter told us where to wait.

  Like man, fellow