(Magnetic Lady, iii., 4, 1632) in the sense of amazed, or bamboozled, i.e., absolutely befooled: Nay, look how the man stands, as he were gowked!]
1888. F. R. Stockton, Rudder Grange, ch. xvi. That afternoon we gawked around, a-lookin' at all the outside shows, for Jone said he'd have to be pretty careful of his money now.
Gawkiness, subs. (colloquial).—Awkwardness;
silliness; greenness
(q.v.).
1873. Miss Broughton, Nancy, ch. xxxvii. The crude gawkiness of the raw girl he has drifted into marrying.
Gawking, subs. (colloquial).—Loitering
and staring; gathering
hayseed (q.v.).
Gawky, subs. (colloquial).—An
awkward booby; a fool. 'Now
squire gawky' = a challenge to
a clumsy lout. For synonyms, see
Buffle and Cabbage-head.
1686-1758. Ramsay, Poems, ii., 299. Or, gentle born ye be; but youths in love you're but a gawky.
1777. Sheridan, School for Scandal, Act ii., Sc. 2. Crab. Yes, and she is a curious being to pretend to be censorious—an awkward gawky, without any one good point under heaven.
1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, ii., ch. 18. Great, long, slab-sided gawkeys from the country.
1878. C. H. Wall, tr. Molière, ii., 197. Our big gawky of a viscount.
Adj. (colloquial).—Lanky; awkward; stupid.
1759. Townley, High Life Below Stairs i., 1. Under the form of a gawky country boy I will be an eye-witness of my servants' behaviour.
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xlviii. Even for his cousin Samuel Newcome, a gawky youth with an eruptive countenance, Barnes had appropriate words of conversation.
Gawney (or Goney), subs. (common).—A
fool. For synonyms,
see Buffle and Cabbage-head.
Gay, adj. (colloquial).—1. Dissipated;
specifically, given to
venery: As in the French, avoir
la cuisse gaie = to be addicted to
the use of men. Hence gay
woman, or girl, or bit = a
strumpet; gay house = a brothel;
to be gay = to be incontinent;
gay in the legs, in the
groin, in the arse = short-heeled
(q.v.); gaying instrument
= the penis [Lexicon Balatronicum,
1811, s.v.]; gay man
a wencher; gay ladie (old)
a mistress; gaying it = copulating.
1383. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 3767. What eyeleth you? Some gay girl, God it wot, Hath brough you thus upon the very trot.
1754. Adventurer, No. 124. The old gentleman, whose character I cannot better express than in the fashionable phrase which has been contrived to palliate false principles and dissolute manners, had been a gay man, and was well acquainted with the town.
1854. Leech, Pictures of Life and Character. How long have you been gay?
1857. J. E. Ritchie, Night Side of London, p. 40. Here in Catherine-street vice is a monster of a hideous mien. The gay women, as they are termed, are worse off than American slaves.
1868. Sunday Times, 19 July. As soon as ever a woman has ostensibly lost her reputation, we, with a grim inappositeness, call her Gay.
2. (common).—In drink. For synonyms, see Screwed.
All Gay (or All so Gay). adv. phr. (common).—All right; first-rate; all serene (q.v.).
To feel gay. verb. phr. (colloquial).—Inclined for sport, venereal or other; To feel naughty (q.v.).
Gay Tyke Boy, subs. phr. (old).—A
dog fancier.
1848. Duncombe, Sinks of London, s.v.
