gawk 
eommence a kind of theoretic flirtation with the little 
brown wife. Carlylc, Misc., IV. 98. 
dawk's errand. SeeerraiuV. 
II. . Foolish. [Scotch and North. Eng.] 
gawk (gak), c. i. [< gawk, .] To act like a 
gawk; go about awkwardly; look like a fool. 
[Colloq. and rare.] 
We !inn-kt'<i armmd, a-lookin' at all tliu outside shows. 
Stockton, Rudder Grange, p. 230. 
The quality of be- 
gawkiness (gi'kl-nes), . 
ing gawky. 
1 ... determined to revolt agaiiut the dominion of 
'r<nr' : i,i' > and be sprightly. 
JR. JlrouyhtoH, Cometh up as a Flower, vii. 
gawky (ga'ki), a. and . [< guujk + -y 1 . Cf. 
equiv. gawk, a., So. gawkit, <jowkit.~] I. . Awk- 
ward in manner or bearing ; inapt in behavior ; 
clumsy; clownish. 
A large half-length of Henry barnley represents him 
tall, awkward, ta^fgawky. remtunt. Tour in Scotland. 
II. ii. ; pi. gatfkies (-kiz). Same as gawk, 'J. 
While the great gaielnj. admiration, 
Parent of stupid itnitation, 
Intrinsic, proper worth neglects, 
And copies erronrs and defects. 
Lloyd, Familiar Epistle. 
An awkward !t<in'lcy, without any one good point under 
heaven. Sheridan, School for Scandal, ii. i 
gawl't, f. '. See gou-I 1 . 
gawl' 2 (gal), . [Prob. a particular use of gall' 2 , 
.] In coal-mining, an unevenness in a coal- 
wall. Gresley. [Leicestershire, Eng.] 
gawm, c. t. See gaum 1 . 
gawn, ii. See gamfl. 
gawntree, . See gauntree. 
gawp 1 (gap), * [Also gaup, a var. of gape, 
q. v.] 1. To gape; yawn. [Prov. Eng., Scotch, 
and U. S.] 2. To stare with the mouth open 
in a stupid and dazed manner. [U. S.] 
gawp 2 (gap), v. t. [Sc., also gowp = E. gulp, 
q. v.] To devour; eat greedily ; swallow vora- 
ciously. 
gawset, . An obsolete spelling of yauze. 
gawsy, gawsie, . See gaucie. 
gay 1 (ga), a. and . [< ME. gay, < OP. gal, later 
gay, F. gai = Pr. gut, guay, jai = OSp. gayo = 
Pg. gaio = It. gajo, gay, merry, < OHG. gdlii, 
MHGr. gailie (cf. equiv. gdch), G. gahe (= MLG. 
ga), usually, with irreg. initial ,;' (in imitation 
ofjagen, hunt l),jahe, quick, sudden, rash, head- 
long, steep ; not connected with geJten = E. go. 
Hence, with assibilation, j# 2 , q. v.] I. a. 1. 
Disposed to or excited with merriment or de- 
light ; demonstratively cheerful ; merry ; jo- 
vial; sportive; frolicsome. 
Alle the grete of Grece and other <jaie pepul, 
That no man vpon mold mist ayme the noumber. 
William / Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 15SHJ. 
Belinda smiled, and all the world was .'/"." 
Pope, R. of the L., il. 52. 
2. Such as to excite or indicate mirth or plea- 
sure ; hence, cheering ; enlivening. 
The concord of brethren, and agreeing of brethren, is a 
(mil thing. Latimer, 2d Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1560. 
He [Arlington] had two aspects, a busy and serious one 
for the public, . . . and a f/a// one for Charles. 
jfiuMiiay, sir William Temple. 
3. Bright or lively, especially in color ; gaudy ; 
showy: as, a gay dress; a gay flower. 
And louely ladies y-wrourjt . . . 
In many (jay garmentes that weren gold-beten. 
Fieri Plowman' i Or file (E. E. T. S.), 1. 188. 
They will pluck 
The yay new coats o'er the French soldiers' heads. 
Sliak., Hen. V., Iv. 3. 
Enjoy your dear wit, and gay rhetorick, 
That hath so well been taught her dazzling fence. 
Hilton, Comus, 1. 70. 
The houses [of Genoa! are most of them painted on the 
outside, so that they look extremely (jay and lively. 
Addimn, Remarks on Italy (ed. Bonn), I. 302. 
4. Richly or'showily dressed ; adorned with fine 
clothing ; highly ornamented. 
Ahonte that temple daunseden alway 
\Wnien inowe, of whiche some ther were 
Fayre of hemself, and some of hem were <;//. 
Chaucer, Parliament of Fowls, I. -.14. 
Prince Robert has wedded a gay ladye, 
He lias wedded her with a rinjr. 
Prince Knoert (Child's Ballads, III. 22). 
Seeing one so gaii in purple silks. Tennyson, Geraint. 
8. Given to pleasure; lively; in a bad sense, 
given to vicious pleasure ; loose; dissipated. 
All grauntld the gome to the gay i|wene [Helen], 
(for to proker hir pes, A- pyne hym therfore. 
li:-*ii-n,-tii>,, nfTriiii'CE. E. T. S.), 1. 11.V.7. 
Some /mi/ gerl, God it woot, 
Hath brought you thus upon the virit<>..t. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale. 1. :.S4. 
Is this that haughty, gallant, ;ni/ Lothario? 
/''-"'v. Fair Penitent. 
2473 
6. Quick; fast. [Prov. Eng.] 7. Pretty long; 
considerable: as, a gay while. Compare gay, 
U dr. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] The gay sclencet, 
literature and poetry, especially amorous poetry, in the 
middle ages. =Syn. 1. Gleeful, blithe, lively, sprightly, 
light-hearted, jolly, hilarious. 3. Bright, brilliant, dash- 
illL'. 
II. ii. It. Anything showily fine or orna- 
mental ; a gaud. 
How the yaties han y-gon god wotte the sothe 
Amonge niygtfiill men alle these many jeris. 
Richard the fadeless, ii. 94. 
O how I grieue. deer Earth, that (given to (jays) 
Must of best wits contemn thee now a days. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas s Weeks, i. M. 
Morose and untractable spirits look upon precepts in 
emblem as they do upon yays and pictures, the fooleries 
of so many old wives' tales. Sir R. L'Estranye. 
2f. A gay lady; a beautiful lady. [Poetical.] 
Hit come to Cassandra, that was the kyuges donghter. 
That, be counsell of the kyii!,' ct comyns assent, 
Parys was pnrpost with pouer to wende 
Into Grese for a (jay, all on grete wise. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 287!'. 
3. A print or picture. [Now only prov. Eug.] 
I must needs own Jacob Touson's ingenuity to be greater 
than the translators, who, in the inscription to the fine 
yay in the front of the book, calls it very honestly Dry- 
den's Virgil. Hilbvurne, Notes on Dryden, p. 4. 
4. The noon or morning, as the brighter part 
of the day. [Prov. Eng.] 
gay 1 (ga; Sc. pron. gi), adr. [Sc. also gae, gey; 
< gay''-, a. For the use, cf. the adverb pretty.'] 
Pretty; moderately: as, gay gude. [Prov. Eng. 
and Scotch.] 
I ken I'm ijaii thick in the head. 
Scott, Old Mortality, vii. 
gay- (ga), . [Origin obscure.] A small rut in 
a path. [Prov. Eng.] 
gayal, gyal (gi'al), [East Indian name.] 
A kind of East Indian ox long since domesti- 
cated from the wild stock of the gaur, and 
recognized by some naturalists as a different 
species called Bibos froutalis. It has a moderate 
hump, no dewlap, but wrinkled skin on the neck, a short 
tail, and comparatively slender horns. The color is brown- 
ish, with white '"stockings" on all the legs. It crosses 
with the common Indian bull. Much confusioirhas arisen 
from misunderstanding of the relation of the gaur and 
gayal, these names being often interchanged. Gayals are 
simply the domesticated descendants of gaurs, now owned 
by various Indian tribes from Assam to Aracan along the 
eastern frontier of the Indian peninsula, and are never 
gaze 
Qaylussacla (ga-lu-sa'si-S), n. [NL., named 
after Gay-Lussac, a distinguished French chem- 
ist and physicist (1778-1850).] A genus of 
ericaceous shrubs of eastern North and South 
America, of about 40 species, differing from 
Vaccinium chiefly in the 10-celled and 10-seeded 
berry. The foliage is commonly glandular, in the South 
American species evergreen, in those of the United States 
for the most part deciduous. The fruit of the northern 
species is edible, and usually known as the huckleberry, 
distinguished as the common or black huckleberry (G. 
resinusa) t t}ie blue huckleberry or blnetangle (G. frondosa), 
and tile more insipid dwarf huckleberry (G. dutnosa), bear- 
huckleberry (fi. ursina), and liox-huckleberry (G. brachy- 
cera). See hucklftjerry and Vucciniuni. 
Qay-Lussac's law. See law 1 . 
gaylussite (ga'lu-sit), . [Named after the 
French chemist Gay-Luxmic: see Gaylussacia.] 
A mineral occurring in monoclinic crystals, and 
consisting of the carbonates of calcium and 
sodium, in nearly equal quantities, with water. 
It is found in Peru, and is also abundant in a 
saline lake near Ragtown in Nevada. 
gayly, adv. See gaily. 
gayness (ga'nes), . [< ME. gayiiessc; < gay* 
+ -HCXS."] The state or quality of being gay, 
in any sense ; gaiety ; fineness. 
Oh, ye English ladies, learn rather ... to make your 
Queen rich for your defence, than your husbands poor for 
your gearish gayness. Aylmer, in Strype, xtii. 
Tell the Constable 
We are but warriors for the working-day : 
Our yayiuau and our gilt are all besmirch'd. 
Sltak., Hen. V 
gaysome (ga'sum), a. [< gay 1 + -some.'] 
of gaiety; gladsome. [Kare.] 
And ner'd with heat of yaysvine youth did venter 
With warlike troopes the Norman coast to enter. 
Hir, fur Mays., p. 633. 
Island ! prison ; 
A prison is as (jayeume. Ford, Broken Heart, ii. 1 
gay-you (gl'u), it. [An E. spelling of the na- 
tive name.] A narrow flat -bottomed fishing- 
iv. 3. 
Full 
(,. iy.il Hilias fr.intnlis}. 
found in the wild state. Little use is made of them, how- 
ever, and they spend the day in the jungles, returning to 
their owners in the villages at night. 
Mr. Sclater observed that . . the fact that the ya>ialv<'&* 
nowhere found in the wild state was quite new to him. 
Proc. ZoM. Sot 1 ., London, 1883, p. 144. 
gaybeseent, . Gay-looking; in brave or gal- 
lant dress. 
Now lykewyse what sale you to courtiers? 
These minion gaibesern gentilmen. 
Chabmer, tr. of Moriaj Encomium, sig. Q, 2 b. 
That goodly Idoll, now .so nail bcxer.ne, 
Shall dotfe her fleshes borrowd fayre attyrc. 
Spentvr, Sonnets, xxvii. 
gaybine (ga'bln), . [< gay 1 + bine for Wnrf 2 .] 
A name of several showy twining plants of the 
genus Iponicea. 
gaydiang (gi'dyang), . [Native name.] A 
vessel of Annam, generally rigged with two 
masts, but in fine weather with three, carrying 
lofty triangular sails. It has a curved deck, and in 
construction somewhat resembles a Chinese junk. These 
vessels carry heavy t&rgoes between Cambodia and the 
gulf of Tonquin. 
gayety, H. See gaiety. 
gay-feather (Ka'feTH"er), . The button snake- 
root, Liutris npicata. 
gaylardt, " A variant of galliard. Chaucer. 
gaylet, gaylert, . Middle English forms of 
jail, juilrr. 
gaylies. gailies (ga'liz; Sc. prou. gi'liz), adr. 
[Sc., also geylies, var. (with adv. suffix -.1) of 
i/iii/i/, 3.] Pretty well; fairly. 
" How do the people of the country treat you?" " Ow ! 
itii's ; particularly that we are Scotch." 
Scott, Paris Revisited in 1815, p, 253. 
boat having an outrigger, much used in An- 
nam. It has two and sometimes three masts, and is usu- 
ally covered in the middle by a movable roof. The helm 
is peculiar, resembling that used in China. 
Gazania (ga-za'ni-a), . [NL., named after 
Theodorus Gaza, a' learned Greek scholar in 
Italv in the 15th century.] A genus of South 
African herbaceous composites, with large soli- 
tary heads of showy flowers, the rays expand- 
ing only in bright weather. Of the 25 species, sev- 
eral are cultivated in conservatories and for bedding pur- 
poses, especially 6-'. rifiens, which has orange rays with a 
dark spot at the base and the leaves white-cottony beneath. 
gaze (gaz), r. ; pret. and pp. gazed, ppr. gazing. 
[<ME.(7seH,prob. of Scand. origin, < Sw. dial. 
gasa, gaze, stare (gaxa dkring xe, gaze or stare 
about one). Connection with the root of gasft, 
frighten, Goth, iis-gaigjan, make afraid, us-geis- 
nan, be amazed, is uncertain. For the sup- 
posed relation to gare 1 , see gare 1 .] I. intranx. 
To look steadily or intently; look with eager- 
ness or curiosity, as in admiration, astonish- 
ment, or anxiety. 
Gaase nat aboute, tournyng oner alle ; 
Make nat thi myrrour also of the walle. 
Babee.i Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 2. 
Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gaziny up into heaven ? 
Acts i. 11. 
All this long eve, so balmy and serene, 
Have I been yaziitg on the western sky 
And its peculiar tint of yellow green. Coleridge. 
The good Peter took his pipe from his mouth, and gazed. 
at them for a moment in mute astonishment. 
Irmng, Knickerbocker, p. 298. 
= Syn. Gape, etc. See starel. 
Il.t trans. To look at intently or with fixed 
attention. 
Straight toward heaven my wondering eyes I turn'd, 
And gazed awhile the ample sky. Milton, P. L., \-iii. 288. 
Why doth my mistress credit so her glass. 
Gazing her beauty, deigned her by the skies? 
Daniel (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 583). 
gaze (gaz). . [(gaze, '.] 1. A fixed or intent, 
look, as of eagerness, wonder, or admiration ; 
a continued look of attention. 
With secret gazr 
Or oiwn admiration him behold. 
Hilton, P. L.,iii. 071. 
