Dictionary

gawk en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ɡɑk/ (cot-caught-merger)
• /ɡɔːk/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

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.

Meanings

1. A cuckoo; (sometimes by extension) any gawky bird.
   • His morning prey he craveth; So crowed the gawk of carrion⁶ […] (6) Gawk of carrion = [kenning for] raven. 1898, Ari Thorgilsson, The Book of the Settlement of Iceland, page 105:
   • […] cuckoos proper have fourteen cervical vertebrae and no feather crest. The ejection urge is well developed in them. The gawks [:] There are three genera with thirteen species of gawks. A. THICK-BILLED CUCKOOS (Pachycoccyx) have only one species[…] 1972, Bernhard Grzimek, Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Birds I-III:
   • I WONDER if you know the cuckoos. […] In Scotlad the popular name for the cuckoo is "the gawk," which means fool. […] But our American cuckoos are a long way from gawks. Indeed many farmers consider them fine weather prophets. 1916, Inez N. McFee, “The Cuckoos”, in Home and School Visitor, page 276:
   • […] threw into a market crate regretfully a somewhat gawky, long-legged youngster that was otherwise exceptionally fine. A neighbour rescued the gawk from the market crate and the two birds as cocks competed in a local show. The "gawk" won. Why? […] the gawk [appeared] of good station. 1923, The New Reliable Poultry Journal, page 640:
   • Some sneakingly fly watching, as the hawk; Or, as a Cuckoo, grow to limb as a gawk. 1910, John Bunyan Robinson, Bird Or Feather Convention ..., page 11:
2. A fool; a simpleton; a stupid or clumsy person.
   • A Duke of Weissenfels, for instance; foolish old gawk, whom Wilhehmina Princess Royal recollects for his distracted notions, — which were well shaken out of him by Wilhelmina's Brother afterwards. 1855, Thomas Carlyle, The Prinzenraub, Westminster Review:

Forms

Deriveds

gawksome · gawky · gawkling · gawk-handed · gawkish

Translations (15)

bg дръвник (stupid or clumsy person) · ka ლენჩი (stupid or clumsy person) · de Einfaltspinsel (stupid or clumsy person) · gl trosma (stupid or clumsy person) · es mentecato (stupid or clumsy person) · cs nemehlo (stupid or clumsy person) · bg глупак (stupid or clumsy person) · cs nemotora (stupid or clumsy person) · pl gamoń (stupid or clumsy person) · de Tölpel (stupid or clumsy person) · ka რეგვენი (stupid or clumsy person) · de Tollpatsch (stupid or clumsy person) · fi toljake (stupid or clumsy person) · ru раззява (stupid or clumsy person) · fi tumpelo (stupid or clumsy person)

gawk en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ɡɑk/ (cot-caught-merger)
• /ɡɔːk/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Perhaps from English dialectal gaw (“to stare; gawk”) + -k, as in talk, stalk, etc., ultimately from Old Norse gá (“to heed”).

Meanings

1. A conspicuous or stupid stare or gape; an instance of gawking.
   • ... the gawks and gapes of townsfolk as stares of admiration. 1991, Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly:
   • ... the gawks and gapes of those who'd expected him to be long dead,[…] 2017 March 7, Cat Sparks, Lotus Blue, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

Forms

gawk en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ɡɑk/ (cot-caught-merger)
• /ɡɔːk/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Perhaps from English dialectal gaw (“to stare; gawk”) + -k, as in talk, stalk, etc., ultimately from Old Norse gá (“to heed”).

Meanings

1. To stare or gape stupidly.
2. To stare conspicuously.
3. (colloquial, vulgar) To suck.

Forms

Deriveds

gawksome · gawker · gawkling · mopery with intent to gawk · gawkish

Synonyms

gloar · glom · gaw · stare

Translations (35)

ru пя́литься (to stare or gape stupidly) · cs civět (to stare or gape stupidly) · cs čumět (to stare or gape stupidly) · ka მიშტერება (to stare or gape stupidly) · bg зяпам (to stare or gape stupidly) · ru тара́щиться (to stare or gape stupidly) · fi töllöttää (to stare conspicuously) · sk čumieť (to stare or gape stupidly) · ka მიშტერება (to stare conspicuously) · sh buljiti (to stare conspicuously) · cs čučet (to stare or gape stupidly) · fi toljottaa (to stare conspicuously) · es sapear (to stare conspicuously) · pl gapić się (to stare or gape stupidly) · cs brejlit (to stare or gape stupidly) · sh zuriti (to stare conspicuously) · ka მიჩერება (to stare conspicuously) · da glo (to stare or gape stupidly) · fr béer (to stare or gape stupidly) · fr badauder (to stare or gape stupidly) · fi töllistellä (to stare or gape stupidly) · ru смотре́ть с глу́пым ви́дом (to stare or gape stupidly) · mi titiro whakatau (to stare or gape stupidly) · de blöde glotzen (to stare or gape stupidly) · cs civět (to stare conspicuously) · da måbe (to stare or gape stupidly) · sh blenuti (to stare or gape stupidly) · da glane (to stare or gape stupidly) · sk očumovať (to stare or gape stupidly) · mi titiro māhoi (to stare or gape stupidly) · mi titiro mākutu (to stare or gape stupidly) · bg гледам глупаво (to stare or gape stupidly) · sh buljiti (to stare or gape stupidly) · ka მიჩერება (to stare or gape stupidly) · fr bayer aux corneilles (to stare or gape stupidly)