galley-west

[ gal-ee-west ]

adverb
  1. Informal. into a state of unconsciousness, confusion, or disarray (usually used in the phrase to knock galley-west).

adjective
  1. Northern U.S. lopsided; cockeyed.

Origin of galley-west

1
1870–75, Americanism; alteration of British dialect collywest

Words Nearby galley-west

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use galley-west in a sentence

  • From the shadows by the gate Lucy Larcom sprang aloft to knock another beetle galley-west.

    Galusha the Magnificent | Joseph C. Lincoln
  • I then met with a change of heart, and overthrew the warty heathen god, and knocked him galley west.

    Remarks | Bill Nye
  • I think it, or my sickness or the whole business together, knocked most of that self-confidence of mine galley-west.

    The Portygee | Joseph Crosby Lincoln
  • Your generosity knocks that superstition galley-west, so I'll take you at your word.

    The Long Chance | Peter B. Kyne
  • The argument that all the strong animals eat only herbs and fruits was here knocked galley-west.

    Confessions of a Neurasthenic | William Taylor Marrs

British Dictionary definitions for galley-west

galley-west

adverb
  1. slang, mainly US into confusion, inaction, or unconsciousness (esp in the phrase knock (someone or something) galley-west)

Origin of galley-west

1
C19: from English dialect colly-west awry, perhaps from Collyweston, a village in Northamptonshire

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012