goober
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Via (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Gullah from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Kongo nguba (“peanut”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈɡuːbə/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈɡubəɹ/, /ˈɡuːbɚ/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -uːbə(r)
Noun
goober (plural goobers)
- (chiefly Southern US) Synonym of peanut.
- 1833 November 7, Louisville Public Advertiser:
- A few bags Gouber Pea, or Ground Pea
- 1834 May 24, Cherokee Phoenix, p. 3:
- But he so seam I frade of he, I guess he steal my goober.
- 1833 November 7, Louisville Public Advertiser:
- (chiefly Southern US, dated slang) Synonym of Georgian or North Carolinian, particularly those from the pine forests of the Sandhills region.
- 1863, Anonymous, "Castle Thunder" in Louis Napoléon Boudrye's Historic Records of the Fifth New York Cavalry..., Appendix, p. 339:
- Conscripts by the dozen...
Come pouring in the Castle...
Some from Mississippi state and “Goobers” from Tar river.
- Conscripts by the dozen...
- 1871, Maximilian Schele de Vere, Americanisms, p. 57:
- The peanuts or earth-nuts known in North Carolina and the adjoining States as Goober peas, so that during the late Civil War a conscript from the so-called ‘piney woods’ of that State was apt to be nick-named a Goober.
- 1863, Anonymous, "Castle Thunder" in Louis Napoléon Boudrye's Historic Records of the Fifth New York Cavalry..., Appendix, p. 339:
- (chiefly US, childish slang) A foolish, simple, or amusingly silly person.
- 2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, "The Simpsons (Classic): 'I Love Lisa'", A.V. Club:
- For Ralph, any encouragement is too much. When Lisa gives Ralph a valentine bearing that locomotive pun that so affected The Simpsons’ showrunner, Ralph misinterprets the gesture as a genuine display of romantic interest rather than a gesture of pity from a thoughtful young geek to a friendless goober.
- 2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, "The Simpsons (Classic): 'I Love Lisa'", A.V. Club:
Synonyms
- (fool): See Thesaurus:fool, Thesaurus:idiot, Thesaurus:ignoramus, and Thesaurus:mentally deficient person
Derived terms
Verb
goober (third-person singular simple present goobers, present participle goobering, simple past and past participle goobered)
- (slang, intransitive) To drool or dribble.
- (slang, transitive) To drip or slather; to apply a gooey substance to a surface.
References
- “goober”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “goober, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1900.
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms derived from Gullah
- English terms derived from Kongo
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/uːbə(r)
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- Southern US English
- English dated terms
- English slang
- American English
- English childish terms
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Dalbergieae tribe plants
- en:Nuts