gleek
English
Etymology 1
From Middle French glic, from Old French glic (“a game of cards”), of Germanic origin from or related to Middle High German glücke, gelücke (“luck”) and Middle Dutch gelīc (“like, alike”). More at luck, like.
Noun
gleek (countable and uncountable, plural gleeks)
- (uncountable) A once-popular game of cards played by three people.
- 1640, Ben Jonson, The Magnetick Lady, or, Hvmors Reconcil'd, act 2, scene 4:
- Lady Loadstone: Laugh, and keep company, at gleek or crimp. / Mistress Polish: Your ladyship says right, crimp sure will cure her.
- (countable) Three of the same cards held in one hand; three of a kind.
Translations
See also
Etymology 2
Related to Etymology 1. Of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse *gleikr, leikr (“sport, play, game”), from Proto-Germanic *galaikaz (“jump, play”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyg-. Cognate with Old English ġelācan (“to play a trick on, delude”), Scots glaik (“a glance of the eye, deception, trick”, n.), Scots glaik (“to trick, trifle with”, v.). More at lake.
Noun
gleek (plural gleeks)
- A jest or scoff; trick or deception.
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
- Where's the Baſtards braues, and Charles his glikes: What all amort?
- An enticing glance or look.
- 1623 (first performance), John Fletcher, William Rowley, “The Maid in the Mill”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii:
- A pretty gleek coming from Pallas' eye:
- (informal) A stream of saliva from a person's mouth.
Translations
Verb
gleek (third-person singular simple present gleeks, present participle gleeking, simple past and past participle gleeked)
- (obsolete, transitive) To ridicule, or mock; to make sport of.
- 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
- I have seen you gleeking and / galling at this gentleman twice or thrice.
- (obsolete, intransitive) To jest.
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
- […] that ſome honeſt neighbours will not make them friends. Nay, I can gleeke vpon occaſion.
- (obsolete, intransitive) To pass time frivolously.
- (informal) To discharge a long, thin stream of liquid (including saliva) through the teeth or from under the tongue, sometimes by pressing the tongue against the salivary glands.
- 1999 October 18, Gem, “what can you wiggle?”, in alt.music.soulcoughing (Usenet):
- i just push the tip of my tongue against the roof of my mouth and saliva squirts out in a groovy little arc. i think you'd really have to see it to know what i am talking about. but you can gleek best right after chewing big red gum.
- 1999 November 15, THAT antix GUY, “the weird personal info”, in alt.rave (Usenet):
- My buddy can gleek (thats what he called it too) but he used highly pressured spit forced out between two teeth with his tounge to do it.
- 2002 July 21, Sean Wilkinson, “Can you gleek?”, in rec.sport.pro-wrestling (Usenet):
- I used to be able to gleek "by accident" every now and then, but I couldn't figure out how to do it deliberately.
- The man said he “gleeked” on the woman, but did not intentionally spit on her.
Translations
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Related terms
- glicke
See also
Further reading
- “gleek”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “gleek”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- Spitting on Wikipedia.Wikipedia