From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Gin \Gin\, n. [A contraction of engine.]
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1. Contrivance; artifice; a trap; a snare. --Chaucer.
Spenser.
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2.
(a) A machine for raising or moving heavy weights,
consisting of a tripod formed of poles united at the
top, with a windlass, pulleys, ropes, etc.
(b) (Mining) A hoisting drum, usually vertical; a whim.
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3. A machine for separating the seeds from cotton; a cotton
gin.
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Note: The name is also given to an instrument of torture
worked with screws, and to a pump moved by rotary
sails.
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Gin block, a simple form of tackle block, having one wheel,
over which a rope runs; -- called also whip gin,
rubbish pulley, and monkey wheel.
Gin power, a form of horse power for driving a cotton gin.
Gin race, or Gin ring, the path of the horse when putting
a gin in motion. --Halliwell.
Gin saw, a saw used in a cotton gin for drawing the fibers
through the grid, leaving the seed in the hopper.
Gin wheel.
(a) In a cotton gin, a wheel for drawing the fiber through
the grid; a brush wheel to clean away the lint.
(b) (Mining) the drum of a whim.
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