It was a Saxon ornament. . . . Some Puritan, before his departure, may have thought himself doing God service by filching the old golden gewgaw.
The rattle of a globe to play withal,
Wikipedia foundation.
Gewgaw — Gew gaw, n. [OE. gigawe, gugawe, gewgaude, prob. the same word as OE. givegove gewgaw, apparently a reduplicated form fr. AS. gifan to give; cf. also F. joujou plaything, and E. gaud, n. See {Give}, and cf. {Giffgaff}.] A showy trifle; a toy; a… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Gewgaw — Gew gaw, a. Showy; unreal; pretentious. [1913 Webster] Seeing his gewgaw castle shine. Tennyson. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
gewgaw — early 13c., giuegaue, contemptuous reduplication, possibly connected with O.Fr. gogue rejoicing, jubilation; joke, prank, mockery, game; or jou jou toy, baby talk word, from jouer to play, from L. jocare (see JOKE (Cf. joke)) … Etymology dictionary
gewgaw — ► NOUN ▪ a showy thing, especially one that is useless or worthless. ORIGIN of unknown origin … English terms dictionary
gewgaw — [gyo͞o′gô΄] n. [ME giuegoue, gugaw, redupl. < ?] something showy but useless and of little value; trinket adj. showy but useless … English World dictionary
gewgaw — also geegaw noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: circa 1529 a showy trifle ; bauble, trinket … New Collegiate Dictionary
gewgaw — gewgawed, adj. /gyooh gaw, gooh /, n. something gaudy and useless; trinket; bauble. Also, geegaw. [1175 1225; ME giuegaue; gradational compound of uncert. orig.; perh. akin to MF, F gogo (see GOGO)] * * * … Universalium
gewgaw — Synonyms and related words: a continental, a curse, a damn, a darn, a hoot, agate, bagatelle, ball, baseball bat, bat, battledore, bauble, bean, bibelot, bijou, bit, blocks, brass farthing, bric a brac, button, cent, checkerboard, chessboard,… … Moby Thesaurus
gewgaw — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) n. trinket, knickknack, bauble. See ornament. II (Roget s Thesaurus II) noun A small showy article: bauble, bibelot, gim crack, knickknack, novelty, toy, trifle, trinket, whatnot. See THING … English dictionary for students
gewgaw — gew|gaw [ gju,gɔ ] noun count INFORMAL a GEEGAW … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
