gowk
Americannoun
-
a stupid person; fool
-
a cuckoo
Etymology
Origin of gowk
1275–1325; Middle English goke < Old Norse gaukr; cognate with Old English gēac, German Gauch
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.
This is another fun term derived from the cuckoo, known as a gowk in some Scottish dialects.
From Time • Mar. 20, 2014
Just take yoursel' away, if ye please; for really ye're tormenting me—making a perfect gowk o' me, for neither end nor purpose.'
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 17 by Wilson, John Mackay
The cuckoo is called a gowk in the North of England; the lark, a laverock; and the twire-snipe and weather-bleak, or weather-bleater, are the same birds.
From Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales A Sequel to the Nursery Rhymes of England by Halliwell-Phillipps, J. O. (James Orchard)
The cuckoo and the gowk, The laverock and the lark, The twire-snipe, the weather-bleak; How many birds is that?
From Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales A Sequel to the Nursery Rhymes of England by Halliwell-Phillipps, J. O. (James Orchard)
And, as Your Majesty kens, the hail biggin o' Your Majesty's language was the wark o' Lindley Murray, o' wham the varra name, ilka gowk can tell, belangs to Scotland.
From Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
