Gad
/ɡæd/ proper noun, interjection, verb, noun
Forms gads gadding gadded ged gade
- proper noun (biblical) The seventh son of Jacob, by his wife's handmaid Zilpah.
- proper noun One of the Israelite tribes mentioned in the Torah, descended from Gad.
- proper noun A male given name from Hebrew.
- proper noun A surname.
- interjection An exclamation roughly equivalent to by God, goodness gracious, for goodness' sake.
- verb (intransitive) To move from one location to another in an apparently random and frivolous manner.
- verb (of cattle) To run with the tail in the air, bent over the back, usually in an attempt to escape the warble fly.
- noun One who roams about idly; a gadabout.
- noun (Northern England, Scotland, derogatory) A greedy and/or stupid person. “Get over here, ye good-for-nothing gadǃ”
- noun (especially UK, US, dialect) A goad, a sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc, or one with a whip or thong on the end for the same purpose.
- noun (UK, US, dialect) A rod or stick, such as a fishing rod or a measuring rod.
- noun (especially mining) A pointed metal tool for breaking or chiselling rock; a pick.
- noun (obsolete) A metal bar.
- noun (dated, metallurgy) An indeterminate measure of metal produced by a furnace, sometimes equivalent to a bloom weighing around 100 pounds.
- noun A spike on a gauntlet; a gadling.
Synonyms
gallivant gadling spike generalized anxiety disorder anxiety reaction spur jazz around
Etymology
Borrowed from Biblical Hebrew גָּד (gad), a son of Jacob.
Euphemistic alteration of God.
From Middle English gadden (“to hurry, to rush about”), of obscure origin.
From Middle English gade (“a fool, simpleton, rascal, scoundrel; bastard”), from Old English *gada (“fellow, companion, comrade, associate”), from Proto-West Germanic *gadō, from Proto-Germanic *gadô, *gagadô (“companion, associate”), related to Proto-West Germanic *gaduling (“kinsman”). Cognate with Dutch gade (“spouse”), German Gatte (“male spouse, husband”). See also gadling.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The point of a spear, or an arrowhead.
- noun A pointed or wedge-shaped instrument of metal, as a steel wedge used in mining, etc. I will go get a leaf of brass, And with a gad of steel will write these words. Shak.
- verb To walk about; to rove or go about, without purpose; hence, to run wild; to be uncontrolled. "The gadding vine." Milton.
Etymology [OE. gad, Icel. gaddr goad, sting; akin to Sw. gadd sting, Goth. gazds, G. gerte switch. See Yard a measure.]
Etymology [Prob. fr. gad, n., and orig. meaning to drive about.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Gad”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details