gowpen
/ˈɡaʊpən
/noun dialect
1A space formed by both hands cupped together to form a bowl: he had a guinea pig in his gowpen...
- I was in the cooking lab cupping pieces of marinated fish in my gowpen and getting the oil ready to fry them.
1.1A quantity that fills both hands cupped together: a gowpen of the sugar...
- He took a gowpen of his own double chins, hoisting his head erect.
- Before you even peek in the considering glass, take a gowpen of water and throw it over your face.
- You come here with a very singular story, and nowt to back it but a glib tongue and your smooth, innocent-like young face—and you go back hame with a heaped gowpen of gold.
Origin
Middle English: from Old Norse gaupn, from Old High German.