Meaning of Gawk | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A cuckoo; (sometimes by extension) any gawky bird.
2. A conspicuous or stupid stare or gape; an instance of gawking.
3. A fool; a simpleton; a stupid or clumsy person.

Equivalents

Examples

“His morning prey he craveth; So crowed the gawk of carrion⁶ […] (6) Gawk of carrion = [kenning for] raven.”

“Some sneakingly fly watching, as the hawk; Or, as a Cuckoo, grow to limb as a gawk.”

“I WONDER if you know the cuckoos. […] In Scotlad the popular name for the cuckoo is "the gawk," which means fool. […] But our American cuckoos are a long way from gawks. Indeed many farmers consider them fine weather prophets.”

“[…] threw into a market crate regretfully a somewhat gawky, long-legged youngster that was otherwise exceptionally fine. A neighbour rescued the gawk from the market crate and the two birds as cocks competed in a local show. The "gawk" won. Why? […] the gawk [appeared] of good station.”

“[…] cuckoos proper have fourteen cervical vertebrae and no feather crest. The ejection urge is well developed in them. The gawks [:] There are three genera with thirteen species of gawks. A. THICK-BILLED CUCKOOS (Pachycoccyx) have only one species[…]”

“A Duke of Weissenfels, for instance; foolish old gawk, whom Wilhehnina Princess Royal recollects for his distracted notions, — which were well shaken out of him by Wilhelmina's Brother afterwards.”

“... the gawks and gapes of townsfolk as stares of admiration.”

“... the gawks and gapes of those who'd expected him to be long dead,[…]”

CEFR level