groak

See also: growk and groke

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Unknown. Adapted into English from the Scots groak, growk with an unchanged meaning[3]; groak in Scotland and growk in Ulster.[4] The earliest recorded English usage of this term is as grouk in 1808 (see sense 2).

Verb

groak (third-person singular simple present groaks, present participle groaking, simple past and past participle groaked)

  1. (typically of domestic animals) To stare or look fixedly at someone; esp. of a child or dog in anticipation of receiving food.[5]
  2. To look at someone with a watchful or suspicious eye.
    • 1808, Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL)‎[1]:
      Grouk is often used, as denoting the watchfulness of a very niggardly person, who is still afraid that any of his property be given away or carried off.

Noun

groak (plural groaks)

  1. Someone who waits at meal-times with the expectation of getting something to eat.[6]
  2. A wistful look by a child on any article greatly desired.[6]

Usage notes

Usually used in the context of dogs and children.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Old Words" lists "groke". The Gettysburg Experience.
  2. ^ “growk, v.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
  3. ^ “groak n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
  4. ^ Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang
  5. ^ "groak" in WordNet 3.1, Princeton University, 2011.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "growk" from Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL)

Anagrams

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