gey, a. and adv. Sc.
(geɪ)
[A variant of gay.]
A. adj. Considerable, ‘tolerable’, ‘middling’: esp. of quantity or amount. Cf. gay a. 7.
| 1815 Scott Guy M. i, Kippletringan was distant at first ‘a gey bit’; then the ‘gey bit’ was more accurately described, as ‘aiblins three mile’. |
b. quasi-adverbially in gey and followed by an adj.: Considerably, ‘pretty’.
| 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. i. Song i, Last Morning I was gay and early out. 1884 Illustr. Lond. News 24 May 510/3 You're gey and wet. |
B. adv. Very; considerably, ‘pretty’. Cf. gay adv. 2.
| 1816 Scott Old Mort. vii, I ken I'm gey thick in the head. 1868 G. Macdonald R. Falconer I. 65 He was a gey (considerably) auld man than. 1893 Stevenson Catriona 22 I've seen him colloguing with some gey queer acquaintances. 1896 Barrie Sentim. Tommy 34 A woman that was gey gruel to me. |