gimlet

Etymology

From Middle English gimlet etc., from Old French guinbelet, guimbelet, guibelet, probably a diminutive of the Anglo-Norman wimble, a variation of guimble (“drill”), from the Middle Low German wiemel; continued in New French as gibelet. Cocktail either named after the tool, in reference to its penetrating effects, or British Navy surgeon Thomas Gimlette (1857–1943).

noun

1. A small screw-tipped tool for boring holes.
2. A cocktail, usually made with gin and lime juice.
   Coordinate term: martini
   We sat in a corner of the bar at Victor's and drank gimlets. “They don't know how to make them here,” he said. “What they call a gimlet is just some lime or lemon juice and gin with a dash of sugar and bitters. A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose's Lime Juice and nothing else. It beats martinis hollow.” 1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, published 2002, page 19
   Yeah, a piece of advice — once you’re back in circulation, don’t keep topping off a lady’s vodka gimlet when she’s not looking. 2001, General Hospital (TV soap opera, August 28)
   By seven, dinner was under way, and a bottle of vodka gimlets and one of martinis were in the freezer, chilling. 2012, Stuart Woods, Unnatural Acts: A Stone Barrington Novel, Penguin, page 98

verb

1. To pierce or bore holes (as if using a gimlet).
2. (nautical, transitive) To turn round (an anchor) as if turning a gimlet.