gannet
/ˈɡænɪt/ noun, verb
Forms gannets ganneting ganneted
- noun Any of three species of large seabird in the genus Morus, of the family Sulidae. They have black and white bodies and long pointed wings, and hunt for fish by plunge diving and pursuing their prey underwater.
- noun (chiefly UK, South Africa) A voracious eater; a glutton.
- verb (chiefly transitive, informal, UK) To wolf down, gobble or eat (something) voraciously.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English ganet, gante, from Old English ganot, from Proto-West Germanic *ganat, *ganatō, from Proto-Germanic *ganatuz, *ganutô (“gander”), ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *ganzô.
Cognate with Dutch gent, Middle Low German gante, German Ganter, Ganser, all “gander, male goose”.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [OE. gant, AS. ganet, ganot, a sea fowl, a fen duck; akin to D. gent gander, OHG. ganazzo. See Gander, Goose.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “gannet”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details