verb
Meaning 1
To gawk; to stare or gape.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, US, dialectal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
gorm
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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UK: /ɡɔːm/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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homophone: gaum (non-rhotic)
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US: /ɡoɹm/
verb
Meaning 2
Alternative form of gaum (“to smear”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, alternative
Examples
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:gorm.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To devour; to wolf down (food).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: colloquial, rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To make a mess of.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Appalachia, New-England, Southern-US, dialectal, often
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
A variant of gaum, from Middle English gome, from Old Norse gaumr, from Proto-Germanic *gaumō; compare Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐌼𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gaumjan, “observe”), and see gaum for more. The -r- was not originally pronounced but was a device used by non-rhotic dialects of English to indicate vowel length or quality (compare Burma, Myanmar, and juggernaut).
A variant of gaum (itself likely a variant of gum), with the ‘r’ being a vowel-lengthening device common in non-rhotic dialects of English.
From gormandize/gormandise.
Supposed by some to be related to gormless and/or gorming, and by others to be related to gorm (“smear”) (itself probably related to gum (“make sticky; impair the functioning of”)).