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gowk

gowk [gouk, gohk] EXAMPLES|WORD ORIGIN noun British Dialect. cuckoo. a fool or simpleton. Liberaldictionary.com

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Origin of gowk 1275–1325; Middle English goke Old Norse gaukr; cognate with Old English gēac, German Gauch Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019 Examples from the Web for gowk Historical Examples of gowk

It’s no use just to be a good husband to her: any gowk can be that.

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In France the party fooled is called un poisson d’avril, ‘an April fish’; in Scotland, a ‘gowk’, or cuckoo.

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Ye hinnae as muckle o’ the Sicht as wad let ye see when Leevie was makin’ a gowk o’ ye to gar ye hang oot signals for her auld jo.

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Late vernal equinoctial gales contemporary with the gowk or cuckoo.

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Gowk’s-spittle, The frothy matter frequently seen on the leaves of plants, S.

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British Dictionary definitions for gowk gowk noun Scot and Northern English dialect a stupid person; fool a cuckoo Word Origin for gowk from Old Norse gaukr cuckoo; related to Old High German gouh 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 gowk n.

“cuckoo,” early 14c., from Old Norse gaukr, from Proto-Germanic *gaukoz (cf. Old English geac, Old High German gouh). Meaning “fool” attested from c.1600.