gander

1 of 2

noun (1)

gan·​der ˈgan-dər 

1

: an adult male goose

2

: simpleton

gander

2 of 2

noun (2)

plural ganders

informal

: look, glance

take a gander

Those intrigued by such oddities … will surely find Stuart Kelly's "Book of Lost Books: An Incomplete History of All the Great Books You'll Never Read" worth a gander.

—Joe Queenan

… trying to step back for a good gander at the art in the Guggenheim.

—Charles Taylor

… had no choice but to push to the front of the horde and through some glass doors to get a gander at what was going on.

—Rick Barrs

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• peek
• glance
• glimpse
• look

Noun (2)

• idiot
• moron
• stupid
• goose
• dummy

Examples of gander in a Sentence

Noun (1)

suggested that they take a gander at the display of classic cars

Noun (2)

the village's chief of police was an ineffectual albeit pleasant gander

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Take a gander here: Unbelievably, the sticking point to the trade may not be the Philliess. —Anthony Stitt, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025

So, take a gander at the list below, and remember that rivalries are fun. —Scott Dochterman, New York Times, 7 July 2025

Just scroll down to your hometown and take a gander. —Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 27 June 2025

Find peace in the Zen Garden, a traditional Japanese space for meditation, or gander at the Carnivorous Bog Garden, with Venus flytraps with jaws wide open. —Judy Garrison, Southern Living, 16 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English gandre, gander, going back to Old English gandra, ganra, going back to Germanic *gan-ra- (whence Middle Low German ganre "male goose," Upper German dialect Gander, Ganter), derivative from the base of Germanic *gan-s- "goose" — more at goose entry 1

Noun (2)

probably derivative of gander entry 1, from the goose-like appearance of a person stretching to look at something

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

circa 1914, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing gander

• what's good for the goose is good for the gander
• what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

Rhymes for gander

• brander
• candor
• dander
• grander
• hander
• laender
• lander
• pander
• sander
• slander
• stander
• zander

Kids Definition

gander

1 of 2 noun

gan·​der ˈgan-dər 

: a male goose

gander

2 of 2 noun

informal

: a look often for judging

take a gander