▪ I. † gom1 Obs.
Also 5 gome, 7 gomme.
[? Abbreviation of *gommer (cf. gammer) = god-mother. Cf. goff.]
= cummer.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 161/2 A Gome; vbi a godmoder. c 1610 Middleton etc. Widow i. ii, Ric. Lady, well met. Fra. I doe not think so Sir. Ric. A scornfull Gom..my Widow never gave me such an answer. 1611 Cotgr., Commere,.. a gomme. 1673 Yorksh. Dial. 5 (E.D.S. No. 76) Wyah, Gom, I'se gea. Ibid. 70 Wyah, Gom Green. |
▪ II. † gom2 Obs. rare—1.
[? var. of gong n.]
? = gong n. 1.
| 1694 Narborough Voy. i. 133 The play..was much like that of a Jews-Trump, or little Gom. |
▪ III. gom3 dial.
(gɒm)
Also goms.
[Deformation of god. Cf. by gum.]
In phr. by gom(s = by God.
| 1806 Bloomfield Wild Flowers 39 By gom we women fell a clacking. 1839 C. Clark J. Noakes & Mary Styles 50 (E.D.S. No. 76), But oft, by gom! when we've bin there, It seem'd amos' to drizzle. 1840 Spurden Suppl. to Forby's Voc. E. Anglia 63 Goms! By Goms. |
▪ IV. gom4 Ireland.
(gɒm)
Also gaum.
[Cf. Ir. gamal stupid-looking person.]
A poor silly fellow.
| 1834 S. Lover Leg. Irel. 2nd Ser. 241 Do you think me sitch a gom, all out, as to put me off wid four pence ha'pny. a 1849 J. Keegan Leg. & Poems (1907) 114 ‘By gor, you are no gom,’ said Biddy. 1870 P. Kennedy Fireside Stories Ireland 29 (E.D.D.), You were a gaum before you went to travel, and you are a gaum after it. 1894 E. McNulty Misther O'Ryan xiv. 150 But, shure, I cudn't kape quiet an' see him standin' there purtindin' to be a gaum. 1928 D. Byrne Destiny Bay i. §2. 11 You big, thick-footed, herring-fed Southern gom! 1970 M. Kenyon 100,000 Welcomes iv. 24 Corrigan's a gom. This one has breeding. |