| 释义 |
gaby colloq. and dial.
(ˈgeɪbɪ; dial. ˈgɔːbɪ)
Also gab(b)ey, gawby, gauvey.
[orig. in north. and midland dialects; of unknown etymology; some have suggested a connexion with gape (cf. Icel. gapi ‘rash, reckless person’); but the dial. forms hardly favour this.]
A simpleton.
1796Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue (ed. 3) Gabey, a foolish fellow. 1833Marryat P. Simple xxxiv, The marine officer is a bit of a gaby, and takes offence where none was meant. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxvii, She is still whimpering after that gaby of a husband. 1863Mrs. Toogood Yorksh. Dial., He's such a gauvey it's now use to tell him how to do it. 1875Ouida Signa I. iv. 47 What a gaby a man is without a wife! 1885Stevenson Child's Gard. 78 While we stand watching her, Staring like gabies.
Hence ˈgabyhood [-hood], the state or condition of a gaby; a state resembling that of a gaby.
1836Fraser's Mag. XIV. 736 The narrative opens with a very lively description of the gabyhood of Paris in 1579. |