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rubberneck

[ruhb-er-nek]Informal.
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rubberneck ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to look about or stare with great curiosity, as by craning the neck or turning the head.

verb (used with object)

to gawk at: The tieup was due to drivers rubbernecking an accident.

noun Also rub·ber·neck·er.

a sightseer; tourist.
an extremely curious person.

RELATED WORDS

glare, look, goggle, focus, gawk, gaze, ogle, peer, eye, eyeball, rivet

Origin of rubberneck

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900; rubber1 + neck
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for rubberneck

Historical Examples of rubberneck

  • The Rubberneck coach lingered, out of respect for its patrons.

  • The paid guides and the "rubberneck wagons" have completed the ruin.

  • Women ought to have everything they own fastened to them with rubberneck elastics.

    The Climbers

    Clyde Fitch

  • The most popular slang expression of the day is "to rubberneck," or, more concisely, "to rubber."

  • Drivers of passing cars slowed down to rubberneck, and a few shouted filthy, vengeful things at them.

    Makers

    Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for rubberneck

rubberneck

noun

a person who stares or gapes inquisitively, esp in a naive or foolish manner
a sightseer or tourist

verb

(intr) to stare in a naive or foolish manner
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 rubberneck
n.

1897, "person who is always listening to other people's conversation; person who gazes around him with undue curiosity," from rubber + neck (n.). Popularized with reference to sightseers in automobiles. As a verb from 1896. Related: Rubbernecking (1896); rubbernecker (1934).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper