gannet

From Middle English ganet, gante, from Old English ganot, from Proto-West Germanic *ganat, *ganatō, from Proto-Germanic *ganatuz, *ganutô (“gander”), ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *ganzô.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɡænɪt/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Rhymes: -ænɪt

gannet (plural gannets)

1. Any of three species of large seabird in the genus Morus, of the family Sulidae. They have black and white bodies and long pointed wings, and hunt for fish by plunge diving and pursuing their prey underwater.
2. (chiefly British, South Africa) A voracious eater; a glutton.

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:gannet.

• (voracious eater): see Thesaurus:glutton

• northern gannet, Morus bassanus
• Australasian gannet, Morus serrator
• Cape gannet, Morus capensis

gannet (third-person singular simple present gannets, present participle ganneting, simple past and past participle ganneted)

1. (chiefly transitive, informal, British) To wolf down, gobble or eat (something) voraciously.
   • Gaynor Kay, Pebble in the Grass (page 115)

     She was no longer in the company of her older sister and mother who had often scolded her for ganneting down her food.