different between gaby vs gawby

English

Alternative forms

• gabey

Etymology

Origin uncertain.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??e?bi/
  • Rhymes: -e?bi

Noun

gaby (plural gabies)

1. (Britain, regional) A stupid, foolish person; a simpleton; a dunce.

   Synonyms: guffin, nincompoop, fool

   • 1860, William Makepeace Thackeray, Lovel the Widower, chapter 1:

     I daresay I made a gaby of myself to the world

   • 1902, John Kendrick Bangs, Olympian Nights, ch. 10:

     "[Y]ou're a jobbernowl and a doodle, a maundering mooncalf and a blockheaded numps, a gaby and a loon; you're a Hatter!" I shrieked the last epithet.

   • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 2:

     "You pair of gabeys!" she exclaimed. "You'll see him before the night's out."

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??ab?/

Etymology 1

Conjunction

gaby

1. if

   Synonyms: -li, gaž, joli

Etymology 2

Univerbation of gaž (“if”) +? by (“would”)

Verb

gaby (defective, invariable)

1. if… would

Further reading

• gaby in Ernst Muka/Mucke (St. Petersburg and Prague 1911–28): S?ownik dolnoserbskeje r?cy a jeje nar?cow / Wörterbuch der nieder-wendischen Sprache und ihrer Dialekte. Reprinted 2008, Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag
• gaby in Manfred Starosta (1999): Dolnoserbsko-nimski s?ownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag.

English

Noun

gawby (plural gawbies)

1. (Britain, dialect, archaic) A baby.
2. (Britain, dialect, archaic) A dunce.