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gamy

or gam·ey

[gey-mee]
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adjective, gam·i·er, gam·i·est.
  1. having the tangy flavor or odor of game: I like the gamy taste of venison.
  2. having the flavor or odor of game or other meat kept uncooked until slightly tainted: The roast was still edible but was slightly gamy.
  3. plucky; spirited.
  4. lewd or suggestive; risqué.
  5. gross or squalid; unwholesome.
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Origin of gamy

First recorded in 1835–45; game1 + -y1
Related formsgam·i·ly, adverbun·gam·y, adjective

-gamy

  1. a combining form with the meanings “marriage,” “union,” “fertilization, pollination,” of the kind specified by the initial element: exogamy; plastogamy; allogamy; also forming nouns corresponding to adjectives ending in -gamous: heterogamy.
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Origin of -gamy

combining form representing Greek -gamía act of marrying
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for gamy

Historical Examples

  • He is not gamy,—fighting's not his forte, A Haycock fight is just no sort of sport.

    A Phenomenal Fauna

    Carolyn Wells

  • When the bait begins to give off a gamy scent, the mothers come.

    The Life of the Fly

    J. Henri Fabre

  • The trout were big, gamy fellows and Eddie was alert, obedient and respectful.

    The Tent Dwellers

    Albert Bigelow Paine

  • They are caught trolling and make a gamy fight on rod and reel.

  • Did you notice how gamy he was, little brother; how he played?

    Little Rivers

    Henry van Dyke

British Dictionary definitions for gamy

-gamy

n combining form
  1. denoting marriage or sexual unionbigamy
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Word Origin

from Greek -gamia, from gamos marriage
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

Word Origin and History for gamy

adj.

see gamey.

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-gamy

word-forming element meaning "marriage; fertilization," from Greek -gamia, from gamos "marriage" (see gamete).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
gamy in Medicine

-gamy

suff.
  1. Marriage; mate:monogamy.
  2. Procreative or propagative union:heterogamy.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.