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gewgaw
6 dictionary results for: gewgaw
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
gew·gaw       [gyoo-gaw, goo-] Pronunciation Key
–noun
something gaudy and useless; trinket; bauble.
Also, geegaw.

[Origin: 1175–1225; ME giuegaue; gradational compound of uncert. orig.; perh. akin to MF, F gogo (see À gogo)]

—Related forms
gewgawed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
gew·gaw       (gyōō'gô', gōō'-)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   A decorative trinket; a bauble.


[Middle English giuegaue.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
gewgaw 
c.1225, possibly a reduplication connected with O.Fr. gogue "joke, game," or jou-jou "toy," baby-talk word, from jouer "to play," from L. jocare.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
gewgaw

noun
cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing [syn: bangle] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Gewgaw

Gew"gaw\, n. [OE. gigawe, gugawe, gewgaude, prob. the same word as OE. givegove gewgaw, apparently a reduplicated form fr. AS. gifan to give; cf. also F. joujou plaything, and E. gaud, n. See Give, and cf. Giffgaff.] A showy trifle; a toy; a splendid plaything; a pretty but worthless bauble.

A heavy gewgaw called a crown. --Dryden.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Gewgaw

Gew"gaw\, a. Showy; unreal; pretentious.

Seeing his gewgaw castle shine. --Tennyson.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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