gleek

[gleek]

verb (used without object) Archaic.

to make a joke; jest.

Origin of gleek

First recorded in 1540–50; origin uncertain

gleek

[gleek]

noun

an English card game for three persons played with a 44-card pack, popular from the 16th through the 18th century.

Origin of gleek

1525–35; < Middle French glic, perhaps < Middle Dutch gelīc like¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gleek

Contemporary Examples of gleek

In plain Gleek, his career was about to get hit with the force of a thousand grape slushies.
Glee's New Villain
Itay Hod
September 20, 2010

Historical Examples of gleek

Gleek let it be, for I am persuaded I shall gleek some of you.
A Select Collection of Old English Plays (11 of 15)
W. Carew Hazlitt
To gleek is used in Shakespeare for "to make sport, to jest," &c.
Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Volume I (of 3)
Thomas Percy
Terms at the game of gleek, which she is supposed to love immoderately.
A Select Collection of Old English Plays
Robert Dodsley
Impetuous youth, play not with him at billiards, basset, or gleek.
Adventures among Books
Andrew Lang
By the cross of these hilts, I'll never play at gleek again, whilst I have a nose on my face: I smell the knavery of the game.
A Select Collection of Old English Plays (11 of 15)
W. Carew Hazlitt

Word Origin and History for gleek

card game, 1530s, from French glic, ghelicque (15c.), perhaps from Middle Dutch ghelic (Dutch gelijk) "like," because one of the goals of the game is collecting cards of the same rank.