gawk
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English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /ɡɔːk/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɔːk
- (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA(key): /ɡɑk/
Etymology 1[edit]
From a variant of gowk, from Middle English gowke, goke, from Old Norse gaukr (“cuckoo”), from Proto-Germanic *gaukaz (“cuckoo”). Cognate with Danish gøg, Swedish gök, German Gauch, Old English ġēac.
Compare also French gauche, and English gawky and gallock.
Noun[edit]
gawk (plural gawks)
- A cuckoo.
- A fool; a simpleton; a stupid or clumsy person.
- 1855, Thomas Carlyle, The Prinzenraub, Westminster Review:
- A Duke of Weissenfels, for instance; foolish old gawk, whom Wilhehnina Princess Royal recollects for his distracted notions, — which were well shaken out of him by Wilhelmina's Brother afterwards.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
stupid or clumsy person
Etymology 2[edit]
Perhaps from English dialectal gaw (“to stare; gawk”) + -k, as in talk, stalk, etc., ultimately from Old Norse gá (“to heed”)[1].
Verb[edit]
gawk (third-person singular simple present gawks, present participle gawking, simple past and past participle gawked)
- To stare or gape stupidly.
- To stare conspicuously.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:stare
- (colloquial, vulgar) To suck.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to stare or gape stupidly
|
to stare conspicuously
References[edit]
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “gawk”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Categories:
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɔːk
- Rhymes:English/ɔːk/1 syllable
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English terms suffixed with -k
- English verbs
- English colloquialisms
- English vulgarities
- en:Cuckoos
- en:People