gowk

== English == === Etymology 1 === From Middle English goke, gowke, from Old Norse gaukr (“cuckoo”), from Proto-Germanic *gaukaz (“cuckoo”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰegʰuǵʰ- (“cuckoo”). ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): /ɡaʊk/ Rhymes: -aʊk ==== Noun ==== gowk (plural gowks) (Northern England, Scotland) A cuckoo. A fool. ===== Derived terms ===== ==== Verb ==== gowk (third-person singular simple present gowks, present participle gowking, simple past and past participle gowked) To make foolish; to stupefy. === Etymology 2 === Origin uncertain. Likely from Middle English coke, colk (“the core or heart of an apple or onion, pith”), from Old English *colc (“the gullet, esophagus; pit of the stomach; trench, pit, gully”), from Proto-West Germanic *kolk, from Proto-Germanic *kulkaz, *kulukaz (“gullet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷel- (“to devour, swallow, gulp; throat, gullet”). Possibly a doublet of coke. ==== Alternative forms ==== goke, goak, gauk, gouk, geak, cowk ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): /ɡaʊk/, [ˈɡæʊ̯ˀk] ==== Noun ==== gowk (plural gowks) (Geordie) An apple core. (Geordie, obsolete) The central part of any thing; pith; core. [until early 20th c.] (dialectal) The hard centre of a boil or sore. (dialectal) The yolk of an egg. (dialectal) The inner part of a haystack. === Etymology 3 === Compare Norwegian Nynorsk gulka (“to burp, belch”). Compare also Scots cowk (“to strain, retch”), Dutch kolken (“to belch”), German kolken (“to gulp”), dialectal German kölken, kolksen (“to vomit”), Danish kulke (“to gulp”). ==== Verb ==== gowk (third-person singular simple present gowks, present participle gowking, simple past and past participle gowked) (dialectal) To retch; vomit. == Scots == === Alternative forms === goak, gouk === Etymology === Inherited from Middle Scots gowk, golk, from Middle English goke, from Old Norse gaukr, from Proto-Germanic *gaukaz. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɡʌuk/, /ɡoːk/ === Noun === gowk (plural gowks) A cuckoo (bird of the family Cuculidae) A fool or idiot; a person with little intelligence or judgment. An April fool; the target of an April Fools' Day joke. (rare) A joke or prank. === Verb === gowk (third-person singular simple present gowks, present participle gowkin, simple past and past participle gowkit) (transitive) To fool or trick (especially in an April Fools' Day joke) (intransitive, rare) To be tricked by an April Fools' Day joke. (intransitive, rare) To monkey around; to waste time or act unseriously. === References === “gowk, n.1, v.1”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC. Eagle, Andy, editor (2026), “gowk”, in The Online Scots Dictionary‎[1]