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• gander
  gander

  noun

  the male of the goose.
• Gander
  Gander

  noun

  a town in E Newfoundland, in Canada: airport on the great circle route between New York and northern Europe.

gander

¹ American  

[gan-der] / ˈgæn dər /

noun

• ganders
  plural

1. the male of the goose.

2. Slang. a look.

   Take a gander at his new shoes.

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Gander ² American  

[gan-der] / ˈgæn dər /

noun

1. a town in E Newfoundland, in Canada: airport on the great circle route between New York and northern Europe.

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gander British  

/ ˈɡændə /

noun

1. a male goose

2. informal a quick look (esp in the phrase take ( or have ) a gander )

3. informal a simpleton

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gander Idioms  

1. see take a gander at.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ganders
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of gander

before 1000; 1910–15 gander for def. 2; Middle English; Old English gan ( d ) ra; cognate with Middle Low German ganre, Dutch gander; akin to goose, German Gans

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Explanation

A gander is a male goose, and also an insult meaning "simpleton," a bit like calling someone "a silly goose." Besides being the proper name for a male goose and a slang word for silly man, the word gander also shows up in the idiom "take a gander." The slang sense of gander comes from the meaning recorded in 1886, to take a long look by craning one's neck like a goose, or wander foolishly (again, like a goose).

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gander Gander ganders

On X he posted: "What is good for the goose is good for the gander."

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

Replay officials took a gander at the replay and decided there was still one second left in the game.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

For instance, take a gander at this not-so-little equation: $1.75 trillion divided by $18.674 billion equals 93.71 times.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

Go on and take a gander at the ingredients list.

From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024

But Yoyo would get rid of the goose only to have to contend with the gander.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

They stuck around too long for people riding the eclipse train in Western New York and returned to block the totality in Gander, Newfoundland, one of the last places the complete eclipse was visible.

From New York Times ● Apr. 9, 2024

For Canadians, the path of totality includes Hamilton, Montreal and Gander.

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2024

Discussing the news of Vander Plas’s season ending injury was particularly disheartening for Bennett, who is close with Gander Plas’s father.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 9, 2023

British artist Ryan Gander, who’s from Suffolk, is showing work at Lisson Gallery’s booth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2023

He ran forward to greet her as she alighted from her faithful Gander.

From Puss Junior and Robinson Crusoe by David Cory

This guarantees regular ganders at their fire-breathing pets along with Matt Smith, still beloved for his tenure on "Doctor Who."

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2022

What must be done to provide sauce for these ganders?

From Time Magazine Archive

Best photograph: A Slovakian goosegirl, ganders and geese against a background of rolling, lawnlike fields, mountains, summer clouds.

From Time Magazine Archive

One of these games was to stand in a circle, while the junior ganders, one after another, walked into the middle of it with their heads stretched out, pretending to hiss.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

“Anybody would think we had three ganders, three geese, and twenty-one goslings. Sheep?”

From "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White

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