gander

noun (1)

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gan·der | \ ˈgan-dər

Definition of gander

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : an adult male goose

2 : simpleton

gander

noun (2)

plural ganders

Definition of gander (Entry 2 of 2)

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 & Antonyms for gander

Synonyms: Noun (1)

Synonyms: Noun (2)

airhead,
birdbrain,
blockhead,
bonehead,
bubblehead,
chowderhead,
chucklehead,
clodpoll
(or clodpole),
clot
[British],
cluck,
clunk,
cretin,
cuddy
(or cuddie)
[British dialect],
deadhead,
dim bulb
[slang],
dimwit,
dip,
dodo,
dolt,
donkey,
doofus
[slang],
dope,
dork
[slang],
dullard,
dum-dum,
dumbbell,
dumbhead,
dummkopf,
dummy,
dunce,
dunderhead,
fathead,
golem,
goof,
goon,
half-wit,
hammerhead,
hardhead,
idiot,
ignoramus,
imbecile,
jackass,
know-nothing,
knucklehead,
lamebrain,
loggerhead
[chiefly dialect],
loon,
lump,
lunkhead,
meathead,
mome
[archaic],
moron,
mug
[chiefly British],
mutt,
natural,
nimrod
[slang],
nincompoop,
ninny,
ninnyhammer,
nit
[chiefly British],
nitwit,
noddy,
noodle,
numskull
(or numbskull),
oaf,
pinhead,
prat
[British],
ratbag
[chiefly Australian],
saphead,
schlub
(also shlub)
[slang],
schnook
[slang],
simpleton,
stock,
stupe,
stupid,
thickhead,
turkey,
woodenhead,
yahoo,
yo-yo

Antonyms: Noun (2)

brain,
genius

History and Etymology for gander

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

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