▪ I. gander, n.
(ˈgændə(r))
Forms: 1 gan(d)ra, 3–4 gandre, 5 gandere, (-dir, -dur), gonder, 6 gaundre, Sc. ganar, gan(n)er, 9 dial. ganner, gonder, 4– gander.
[The orig. stem is perhaps *ganron-, the d being a euphonic insertion between n and r as in thunder:—OE. þunor. Outside of English the word is found only in Du., LG. and South Ger. gander, MLG. ganre; the other Teut. languages show different formations, as G. gänserich (earlier ganser), ON. gasse, Sw. gåse.
Although used as the masc. of goose (OE. gós:—OTeut. *gans-) there is some doubt whether it is etymologically cognate with that word. While goose represents an OAryan *ghans- with palatal gh-, it is possible that OE. gan(d)ra may be cognate with Lith. gàndras stork; this would imply a root beginning with velar gh-, to which may also be referred OE. ganot gannet, OHG. ganaȥȥo, ganȥo (MHG. ganȥe, also genz), Du. gent, all meaning ‘gander’. Cf. ganta, said by Pliny N.H. x. xxii. 27 to be the Ger. name of a small white goose, OF. gante, jante, gente, wild goose, Pr. ganta wild goose (in the mod. dialects variously used for ‘wild goose’, ‘black stork’, and ‘heron’). It has been conjectured that gander may have been originally the special name of some kind of water-bird, and that its association with goose is accidental, perh. arising from the alliterative phrase ‘goose and gander’.]
1. a. The male of the goose.
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. (Z.) 307 Anser, gandra [v.r. ganra]. c 1220 Bestiary 392 Ðe coc and te capun ȝe [the fox] feccheð ofte in ðe tun, And te gandre and te gos, bi ðe necke and by ðe nos, haleð is to hire hole. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xx. 216 In theise vyneres ben so many Wylde Gees and Gandres. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 197 Her [leper's] skyn..wole bicome as it were þe skyn of a gandir þat hise feþeris weren pilid awey. c 1430 Lydg. Hors, Shepe, & G. (Roxb.) 8 Ghoos ne gander ne grene gosselyng. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. xi. 33 The syluer ganer, flyghterand wyth lowd skry. 1548 Cranmer Catech. 24 b, These papistes..say that thys verse..is verefied of the gose and the gaundre. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Vertue of Tayle Wks. ii. 126/1 Grand Gouernour of Guls, of Geese and Ganders. 1766 [Anstey] Bath Guide ad fin., Fat be the gander that feeds on thy grave. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VI. xi. 123 The female hatches her eggs with great assiduity; while the Gander visits her twice or thrice a day. 1887 Bowen Virg. Eclog. ix. 36 A cackling gander among sweet swans of the stream. |
b. Phrases and
proverbs.
| 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 68 That goose that still about will wander..Shall home come agayne as wise as a gander. a 1529 Skelton Image Hypocr. 111 Doctour Pomaunder As wise as a gander Wotes not wher to wander. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 275, I..haue heard, that as deepe drinketh the Goose as the Gander. a 1704 T. Brown New Maxims Wks. 1720 IV. 123 What is Sawce for a Goose is Sawce for a Gander. 1881 Saintsbury Dryden v. 102 But what is sauce for the nineteenth-century goose is surely sauce for the seventeenth-century gander. |
2. fig. a. A dull or stupid person; a fool, simpleton.
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 20 b, Another for a Gose, that graseth upon his ground, tries the lawe so hard, that he proves himself a Gander. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet C ij b, Finding nothing but dung, the gander wisht his goose alive. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. ii. 161 But prethee hold thy prating, witlesse Gander, Shalt ne'r haue honor to become my Pander. 1709 Brit. Apollo II. No. 49. 2/2 Many Women wou'd make meer Ganders of such wise Querists. 1816 J. Gilchrist Philos. Etym. 216 Perhaps some great critical gander will come flapping and flourishing out of the flock. |
b. slang. ‘A married man; in America one not living with his wife; a grass-widower’ (Farmer).
c. A look or glance (see
quot. 1914).
slang (
orig. U.S.).
Cf. gander v. 1 b.
| 1914 Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 36 Gander, an inquisitorial glance; a searching look; an impertinent gazing or staring. Also the simple act of looking or seeing... ‘Take a gander at this dump as we pass...’ 1937 D. Runyon More than Somewhat i. 16 Now I am taking many a gander around the bedroom to see if I can case the box of letters. 1943 [see gander v. 1 b]. 1959 A. Lejeune Crowded & Dangerous viii. 91, I was sitting..taking a gander at what's running at 'urst Park. 1971 Sci. Amer. Oct. 74 (Advt.), Take a gander at the see-through door below. See that corrugated piece of steel? |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
gander-feast,
gander-goose,
gander-neck;
gander-gutted adj.| 1586 Warner Alb Eng. iii. xvi. (1589) 66 Their *Gander Feast, what Manlius and Camillus did therein..I pretermit. |
| 1631 R. Brathwait Whimzies, Decoy 28 As one borne to more meanes than braines, hee behaves himselfe like a very *gander-goose. |
| 1837 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. i. xviii, A real *gander-gutted lookin critter, as holler as a bamboo walkin cane. |
| 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. i. Wks. 1856 I. 14 A *gander neck, A thinne lippe, and a little monkish eye. |
4. Special comb. (mainly
slang):
gander-month,
-moon, the month after a wife's confinement (? allusion to the gander's aimless wandering while the goose is sitting);
gander-mooner, a husband during this period;
gander-party U.S. (see
quot.);
gander-pull,
-pulling U.S., a sport in which a horseman riding at full speed tries to clutch the greased neck of a live gander suspended by the feet and to pull its head off (
cf. goose-riding);
gander's wool, feathers. Also, in the name of a plant,
gander-scurvy-grass.
| 1636 Dekker Wond. Kingdome ii. C iij, Is't *Gander moneth with him? a 1652 Brome Eng. Moor iii. i. Wks. 1873 II. 40 I'le keep her at the least this Gander moneth, While my fair wife lies in. 1796 Grose's Dict. Vulg. Tongue (ed. 3), Gander Month, that month in which a man's wife lies in: wherefore, during that time, husbands plead a sort of indulgence in matters of gallantry. |
| 1886 Chesh. Gloss. s.v. Gonder-moon, Oh, it's *gonder moon wi' 'im; he's lost and dusna know what he's doin'. |
| 1617 Middleton & Rowley Faire Quarr. iv. iv. 139 Wandering *gander-mooners, Or muffled late night-walkers. |
| 1866 Lowell Biglow P. Introd., Poems 1890 II. 196 *Gander-party, a social gathering of men only. |
| 1843 Haliburton Attaché II. iv. 58 It puts me in mind of ‘*Gander Pulling’. [A description follows.] 1885 Miss Murfree Proph. Gt. Smoky Mount. v. 103 They were making ready for the gander-pulling. |
| 1691 Abp. Sancroft Let. in D'Oyly Life II. 12 *Gander-scurvey-grass. |
| 1600 Breton Pasquil's Fool's-cappe (Grosart) 23 Such braines belined with *Gander's wooll. |
Hence
ˈganderism, conduct of or befitting a gander;
ˈganderous a., pertaining to a gander.
nonce-wds.| 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Taylor's-Goose Wks. i. 111/2 The Gander in my face with fury flew..My Horse he started, to the ground I went, Dismounted in that (Ganderous) tournament. I should say Dangerous, but sure I am That Ganderous is a Dangerous Anagram. 1888 Blackw. Mag. Sept. 415 This little piece of ganderism put my gay visitant into excellent good-humour. |
▪ II. gander, v. (
ˈgændə(r))
Also
gonder,
Sc. gainder.
[f. prec.] 1. intr. † a. (See
quot. 1687.)
dial. b. To wander aimlessly, or with a foolish air like that of a gander. Also, to look or glance (see later
quots.)
dial. or
colloq. (now chiefly
U.S.).
| 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v., To go a gandering, whilst his Wife lies in, chercher à se divertir ailleurs [etc.]. 1822 Hogg Perils of Man III. vii. 202 What are ye gaun gaindering about that gate for, as ye didna ken whilk end o' ye were uppermost. 1865 H. Kingsley in Macm. Mag. June 131 The deerhounds get between every body's legs..and gander about idiotically. 1886 Chesh. Gloss., s.v., Wheer art gonderin to? 1887 T. Darlington Folk-Speech S. Cheshire 206 Gonder, to stretch the neck like a gander, to stand at gaze. ‘What a't gonderin' theer fur?’ 1903 Cincinnati Enquirer 9 May 13/1 Gander, to stretch or rubber your neck. 1935 Amer. Speech X. 17/2 To wander about looking for someone or something. Modern to gander. 1939 Ibid. XIV. 239/2 To gander, to examine. 1943 Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 33 Gander, a look through the mail, a glance over another's shoulder at a letter or paper. To perpetrate this long-necked nuisance. |
2. transf. To ramble in talk.
dial.| 1858 Hughes Scouring White Horse v. 95 ‘But about the sports, William?’ ‘Ees, Sir, I wur gandering sure enough’, said the old man. 1867 H. Kingsley Silcote of S. xlix. (1876) 360 You sit gandering in that chair. 1886 Chesh. Gloss., Gonder, to ramble in conversation, to become childish. |