Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1705-1722
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†GORMAW, n. Also gormah, garmau and met. form grammaw. Also in n.Eng. dial.
1. The cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo (Rxb. 1801 J. Leyden Gl. to Compl. Scot. 339).Sc. 1705 Observator (2 May) 32:
3 or 4 score of small Islands overgrown with Fens for Garmaus and other Sea foul to nest in.Sc. 1722 Ramsay Poems (1800) II. 400:
With greidy Gleds, and slie Gormahs, And dinsome Pyis, and clatterin Daws.
2. Fig. A glutton, a person with a voracious appetite (Sc. 1808 Jam., grammaw; Lnk. 1825 Jam.).
[O.Sc. has gormaw, in its lit. and fig. senses, from c.1500. ?Gor, filth (see Goor, and for sim. comp. cf. O.Sc. skaitbird, arctic gull) + Maw, the common gull; cf. Gor-cock, -hawk.]
