Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for gammy. Search instead for gammier.

gammy

American  
[gam-ee] / ˈgæm i /

adjective

British Informal.
gammier, gammiest
  1. disabled; lame.

    a gammy leg.


gammy British  
/ ˈɡæmɪ /

adjective

  1. US equivalent: gimpyslang (esp of the leg) malfunctioning, injured, or lame; game

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of gammy

First recorded in 1830–40; originally dialectal, perhaps from dialectal French; compare Norman dialect gambier “having bad legs,” gambie “lame,” Middle French gambi “bent, crooked,” all ultimately derivative of Late Latin gamba; see jamb 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Jokingly adding: "But being in Rage Against the Machine and having a gammy leg is quite funny."

From BBC Aug. 26, 2022

She hobbles – a gammy left knee, I think.

From The Guardian Aug. 16, 2018

The first impression, even the second and the third, and perhaps the fourth and the fifth, was of a team in pieces, with broken hearts and gammy legs.

From The Guardian Jun. 25, 2010

The son of a British major in the Indian army, he grew up with a cruel impediment: a "gammy leg" that kept him off the rugger field, gave him a lifelong limp.

From Time Magazine Archive

“It’s pay-day to-day, being Thursday; and so you’ll have roast mutton and gammy duff for dinner, let alone your pay, mate.”

From Young Tom Bowling The Boys of the British Navy by Greene, John B.

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training