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.
†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.]
