Gawk


[gawk] /gɔk/

verb (used without object)
1.
to stare stupidly; gape:
The onlookers gawked at arriving celebrities.
noun
2.
an awkward, foolish person.
/ɡɔːk/
noun
1.
a clumsy stupid person; lout
verb
2.
(intransitive) to stare in a stupid way; gape
v.

1785, American English, perhaps from gaw, a survival from Middle English gowen “to stare” (c.1200), from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse ga “to heed,” from Proto-Germanic *gawon-, from PIE *ghow-e- “to honor, revere, worship” (see favor (n.)); and altered perhaps by gawk hand (see gawky). Liberman writes that it “need not have been derived from gowk. It is possibly another independent imitative formation with the structure g-k. Related: Gawked; gawking.

verb

To stare; gape stupidly: locals gathered to gawk at strange lights/ They went in and out of the garage to gawk at the body

[1785+; fr dialect gawk, gouk, ”fool, idiot,” literally ”cuckoo”]
tool, language
GNU awk. Gawk is a superset of standard awk and includes some Plan 9 features.
David Trueman and Arnold Robbins of Georgia Institute of Technology were developing it in 1993. It has been ported to Unix, MS-DOS, Macintosh, and Archimedes.
Latest version: 2.15.3, as of 1993-11-08.
Available by FTP from your nearest GNU archive site.
Mac version (ftp://archive.umich.edu/mac/utilities/developerhelps/macgawk2.11.cpt.hqx).
(2000-10-21)

Read Also:

  • Gawked

    [gawk] /gɔk/ verb (used without object) 1. to stare stupidly; gape: The onlookers gawked at arriving celebrities. noun 2. an awkward, foolish person. /ɡɔːk/ noun 1. a clumsy stupid person; lout verb 2. (intransitive) to stare in a stupid way; gape v. 1785, American English, perhaps from gaw, a survival from Middle English gowen “to […]

  • Gawkiness

    [gaw-kee] /ˈgɔ ki/ adjective, gawkier, gawkiest. 1. awkward; ungainly; clumsy. /ˈɡɔːkɪ/ adjective gawkier, gawkiest 1. clumsy or ungainly; awkward 2. (West Yorkshire, dialect) left-handed adj. “awkward, ungainly,” 1724, from gawk hand “left hand” (1703), perhaps a contraction of gaulick, thus “gaulish hand,” derogatory slang that could have originated during some period of strained Anglo-French relations, […]

  • Gawking

    [gawk] /gɔk/ verb (used without object) 1. to stare stupidly; gape: The onlookers gawked at arriving celebrities. noun 2. an awkward, foolish person. /ɡɔːk/ noun 1. a clumsy stupid person; lout verb 2. (intransitive) to stare in a stupid way; gape v. 1785, American English, perhaps from gaw, a survival from Middle English gowen “to […]

  • Gawkish

    [gaw-kee] /ˈgɔ ki/ adjective, gawkier, gawkiest. 1. awkward; ungainly; clumsy. /ˈɡɔːkɪ/ adjective gawkier, gawkiest 1. clumsy or ungainly; awkward 2. (West Yorkshire, dialect) left-handed adj. “awkward, ungainly,” 1724, from gawk hand “left hand” (1703), perhaps a contraction of gaulick, thus “gaulish hand,” derogatory slang that could have originated during some period of strained Anglo-French relations, […]

  • Gawkishness

    [gaw-kee] /ˈgɔ ki/ adjective, gawkier, gawkiest. 1. awkward; ungainly; clumsy. /ˈɡɔːkɪ/ adjective gawkier, gawkiest 1. clumsy or ungainly; awkward 2. (West Yorkshire, dialect) left-handed adj. “awkward, ungainly,” 1724, from gawk hand “left hand” (1703), perhaps a contraction of gaulick, thus “gaulish hand,” derogatory slang that could have originated during some period of strained Anglo-French relations, […]


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