Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To strike with the flat of the hand; strike as in playing at handball; cuff.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • "Look, grandpaw, a new gowf ba 'I foond, lost on the links."

    More Toasts Marion Dix [Editor] Mosher

  • I'm a gude Scot, but I'm thinkin 'I didna tak' up gowf early enough in life.

    Between You and Me Harry Lauder 1910

  • Still ye'll be wonderin 'how I was reminded of all this at Montrose, where Mac and I showed how bad we were at gowf!

    Between You and Me Harry Lauder 1910

  • I thought the gowf wad be easier than digging for coal wi 'a pick.

    Between You and Me Harry Lauder 1910

  • I mind that in Montrose, when we woke up one morning after the most successful concert we had ever given, and so were feeling very extra special, we found a couple o 'gowf balls lyin' around in our diggings.

    Between You and Me Harry Lauder 1910

  • And it so happened that that gay morn at Montrose when Mac and I tried our hands at the gowf brought me in touch with another and very different experience.

    Between You and Me Harry Lauder 1910

  • [51] is one of the two professional Scottish teams that play in the top tier of European competition, both it and the national side Golf (or "goff" to those who cannot pronounce the letter 'l') is often claimed to be a game of Scottish invention, with one theory being that its name is from the Scots word "gowf" meaning

    Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en] 2008

  • There was a lot o 'men' an 'loons staiverin' aboot Carnoustie playin 'at the gowf; an' Sandy says -- "Look at thae jumpin'-jecks o 'craturs wi' their reed jeckets on, like as mony organ-grinders 'monkeys, rinnin' aboot wi 'their bits o' sticks, wallopin 'awa' at Indeen-rubber ba's.

    My Man Sandy J. B. Salmond

  • No time for a walk to-day, let alone a bit turn at the gowf. "

    Miss Mapp 1903

  • ` sandal '(cf. Latin calligula, ` soldier's boot'); German, from the Celtic gairm, a battle cry transmitted via the Latin Germanus; golf, from the Gaelic gowf ` blow with the hand '(an acceptable pronunciation for golf is "gof"); gull, from the Welsh gwylan or the Breton gwelan, ` sea bird'; havoc, from the Welsh hafog ` devastation '; hooligan,

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol II No 4 1976

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