Meanings
- colloquialeuphemisticUsed during a meal to alert a family member or friend that they have a crumb on their face.
At one of their literary dinners, should a crumb get caught in the luxuriant Fields beard — "There's a gazelle in the garden, Jamie," his wife would say.
1956, Louise Hall Tharp, page 2542 more examples
The other ubiquitous anecdote, told by Harvard undergraduates who enjoyed poking gentle fun at the stately and aged Mrs. Fields, describes Annie saying "There's a gazelle in the garden" when she noticed food in her husband's beard at the dinner table.
1990, Judith Roman, Annie Adams Fields: the spirit of Charles Street, page 12If he got a crumb lodged in his beard, she would say, "Jamie, dear, there is a gazelle in the garden," which amused his friends and became a household expression in our family.
1922, Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow, Random memories, page 35Synonyms: gazelle on the lawn
Synonyms & antonyms
nounUsed during a meal to alert a family member or friend that they have a crumb on their face.
Origin
Possibly from an Arabic word that means both beard and garden.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
gazelle in the garden. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gazelle%20in%20the%20garden
“gazelle in the garden.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gazelle%20in%20the%20garden. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gazelle in the garden,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gazelle%20in%20the%20garden.
Source: gazelle in the garden on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.