1861. Reade, Cloister and Hearth, ch. xxviii. I ne’er minced
(dissected) ape nor gallows-bird.
Gallows-faced, adj. (old).—Evil-looking; hang-dog. Also
gallows-looking.
1766. H. Brooke, Fool of Quality, ii. 16. Art thou there, thou
rogue, thou hang-dog, thou gallows-faced vagabond?
1768. Goldsmith, Good-natured Man, Act v. Hold him fast, he has the
gallows in his face.
1837. Barham, I. L. (Misadv. at Margate). A little gallows-looking
chap—dear me! what could he mean?
Gallows-minded, adj. (colloquial).—Criminal in habit and idea; also,
evil-hearted.
Gallowsness, subs. (old).—Rascality; recklessness; mischievousness.
1859. G. Eliot, Adam Bede, ch. vi. I never knew your equal for
gallowsness.
Gallows-ripe, adj. (old).—Ripe for the rope.
1837. Carlyle, French Revolution, Pt. II., bk. v., ch. iii. Loose
again, as one not yet gallows-ripe.
Gallus.—See Gallows.
Gally-foist.—See Galley-foist.
Gallyslopes, subs. (Old Cant).—Breeches. For synonyms, see Kicks.
Galoot (also galloot and geeloot), subs. (general).—A man (sometimes in
contempt); also (in America) a worthless fellow (or thing, see quot.
1888); a rowdy; a cad (q.v.).
1835. Marryat, Jacob Faithful, ch. xxxiv. Four greater galloots
were never picked up, but never mind that.
1869. S. L. Clemens (Mark Twain) Innocents at Home, p. 22. He could
lam any galoot of his inches in America.
1871. John Hay, Jim Bludso. I’ll hold her nozzle agin the bank Till
the last galoot’s ashore.
1885. Saturday Review, Feb. 7, p. 167. ‘I’ll never draw a revolver
on a man again as long as I live.’... ‘Guess I’ll go for the galoot
with a two-scatter shoot-gun.’
1888. New York Tribune, May 16. It is better to have a Carrot for a
President than a dead beat for a son-in-law. In this way we again
score a live beat on the galoot.
1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 137. ‘My
dear boy, I may be a galoot about literature, but you’ll always be
an outsider in business.’
On the gay galoot, adv. phr. (common).—On the spree.
1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 3. I’m off on the gay galoot
somewheres.
Galoptious or Galuptious, adj. (popular).—Delightful; a general
superlative.
1887. Judy, 21 Sept., p. 140. Four young ladies represented the
galopshus sum of 20,000,000 dollars.
Galore (also gallore and golore), adv. (old; now recognised).—In
abundance; plenty. [Irish and Gaelic go leor = in plenty.]
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p 14. Galore of alcohol to
ratify the trade.
1856. C. Reade, Never Too Late, ch. lx. He found rogues galore, and
envious spirits that wished the friends ill.
1891. Licensed Vic. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 1, c. 1. Of chit-chat this
week we have galore, and the difficulty is how to sift the wheat
from the chaff.
Galumph, verb. (American).—To bump along (Onomatopœia).
1888. New York World, 13 May. The young man tackled the driver of a
green bobtail car that galumphed through Lewis Street at a high
rate of speed.
Galvanised Yankee, subs. phr. (American Civil War).—A Grey-back (q.v.)
who took the oath to the North and served in its armies.
Gam, subs. (thieves’).—1. Pluck; gameness.
1888. Cassell’s Saturday Journal, 8 Dec., p. 260. I’m not so sure
about his lack of cunnin’, speed, or gam.