geek

geek
I. n
1.
American
a freak, an insane or dis-gusting person. This old word originated with fairground folk to describe someone willing to abase themselves or perform disgusting acts, such as biting the heads off live chickens, or a grotesque person exhibited for money. The word is now firmly established in teenage and school-children's slang, helped by the prepon-derance of geeks in the horror films of the late 1970s and 1980s. It may be derived from German, Dutch or Yiddish words for 'to peep', or from Dutch and English dia-lect words for a fool.
► 'im gonna marry the geek tycoon.' (Cheers, US TV series, 1988)
2.
a menstrual period. This use of the word, indicating distaste and/or fascina-tion and used by both sexes, originated in the USA. 'On the geek' (having one's period), 'geek pains' (period pains).
II. geek out
vb
American
a.
to behave eccentrically, like a geek
b.
to search desperately for drug remnants, particularly crack. This sense is a specialisation of the first, used by drug users since the late 1980s to describe the actions of a crack addict in extremis.
► 'You just want more and more. That's when you go geeking - looking for specks on the floor, just to get some more.' (Drug-user, Guardian, 5 September 1989)

Contemporary slang . 2014.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Geek — (/gik/), parfois francisé en guik est un terme d origine américaine anglophone, qui désigne de façon péjorative, une personne bizarre qui est perçue comme trop intellectuelle[1]. Il a été ensuite très utilisé internationalement sur Internet de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Geek — (del inglés geek, pronunciado guik : IPA /gi:k/) es un término que se utiliza para referirse a la persona fascinada por la tecnología y la informática.[1] [2] [3] …   Wikipedia Español

  • Geek — [giːk] (engl. umgangssprachlich für Streber, Stubengelehrter) bezeichnet heute allgemein eine Person, die sich durch großes Interesse an wissenschaftlichen oder fiktionalen Themen auszeichnet, die üblicherweise von elektronischer (vgl.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Geek U.S.A. — «Geek U.S.A.» Canción de The Smashing Pumpkins Álbum Siamese Dream Publicación 27 de julio de 1993 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Geek — У этого термина существуют и другие значения, см. Гик (значения). Гик (англ. geek, IPA giːk)  сленговый термин, характеризующий эксцентричного человека, «помешанного» на каком либо роде занятий. Однако чаще всего термин употребляется… …   Википедия

  • geek — [giːk] noun [countable] informal COMPUTING someone who knows a lot about a technical subject, usually computers, but who is not good at communicating with people; = NERD: • He is a 15 year old computer geek who spends all day gaming. * * * geek… …   Financial and business terms

  • geek — sideshow freak, 1916, U.S. carnival and circus slang, perhaps a variant of geck a fool, dupe, simpleton (1510s), apparently from Low Ger. geck, from an imitative verb found in North Sea Germanic and Scandinavian meaning to croak, cackle, and also …   Etymology dictionary

  • geek — (g[=e]k), n. 1. A performer in a carnival, often presented as a wild man, who performs grotesquely disgusting acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken or snake. [PJC] 2. Hence: Any eccentric or strange person; an oddball; an eccentric.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • geek — [gi:k] n [Date: 1800 1900; Origin: Perhaps from Low German gek stupid person ] informal someone who is not popular because they wear unfashionable clothes, do not know how to behave in social situations, or do strange things = ↑nerd ▪ a computer… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • geek — [ gik ] noun count INFORMAL someone who is boring, especially because they seem to be interested only in computers ╾ geek|y adjective …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • geek — /geek/, n. Slang. 1. a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken. 2. a peculiar or offensive person, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual. 3. an expert in… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”