gourd n.
1. (UK Und.) a crooked die, which has been hollowed out to affect the throw.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Toxophilus (1761) I 85: What false dyse use they? As dyse stopped with quick silver and heares, dyse of vauntage, flattes, gourdes to chop and change when they liste, to let the true dyse fall under the table, and so take up the false. | |
| Detection of Vyle and Detestable Use of Dice Play 27: A bale of gourdes with as many hyghe men as lowe men. | |
| Defence of Conny-Catching 6: I had cheates for the very sise, of the squariers, langrets, gourds, stoppe-dice, high-men, low-men, and dice barde for all aduantages. | |
| Merry Wives of Windsor I iii: Let vultures gripe thy guts! for gourd and fullam holds, And high and low beguile the rich and poor. | |
 | Monsieur d’Olive IV ii: I have learned but three sorts; the gourd, the fulham, and the stop-cater-trey. | |
| Scornful Lady IV i: And thy dry bones can reach at nothing now, But gords [sic] or nine-pins. | |
| , , | | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: The names of false dice: A bale of bard cinque deuces A bale of flat cinque deuces A bale of flat sice aces A bale of bard cater traes A bale of flat cater traes A bale of fulhams A bale of light graniers A bale of langrets contrary to the ventage A bale of gordes, with as many highmen as lowmen, for passage A bale of demies A bale of long dice for even and odd A bale of bristles A bale of direct contraries. |
| ‘Modern Dict.’ in Sporting Mag. May XVIII 100/1: [as cit. 1785]. | |
| Lex. Balatronicum. | |
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | (con. early 17C) Fortunes of Nigel II 146: To eke out your living / By the wag of your elbow, / By fulham and gourd. |
2. (esp. drugs) the head.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Glance at N.Y. I ii: If you don’t get off de hose I’ll hit you over de gourd wid my trumpet! | |
| Gallipolis Jrnl (OH) 28 Apr. 1/3: Both of them chaps got our bits of lead square in the top of their gourds - right through their brains. | |
| ‘Jim Kane’ Log of Commodore Rollingpin 188: With a movement of his feet he — / Litfted off the top of Patrick’s gourd. | |
| Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 105: That lush’ll rot your gourd. | |
| Blue Movie (1974) 155: What about the biggie? How’s that shaping up in your great gourd? | |
| You Bright and Risen Angels (1988) 333: Who knows what forces the guy might have [...] ready to come to his rescue if Wayne punches his gourd. |
3. (US campus) a stupid, empty-headed person.
| ‘Razorback Sl.’ in AS L:1/2 59: gourd n Person considered dull or stupid, hollow-headed person. |
In compounds
(US) a blockhead, a fool; also as adj.; as phr. make gourds, make a fool of.
| ‘The Thimble Game’ in Polly Peablossom’s Wedding 31: Durn it, they’ll never make gourds out o’ me. | |
| ‘Letter from S---L, of Tennessee’ Nashville Union and American XXIX July in Inge (1967) 90: After softsoaping the two old spectacled gourd heads about their intelligence [...] he drew from his saddle bags a greasy copy of ‘Cobb’. | |
| (con. 1918) Red Pants 12: They’s built like a destroyer – long an’ sharp [...] Haven’t got flat noses an’ gourd-heads like a cawn-fiel’ nigger down South. | |
| (con. 1943–5) To Hell and Back (1950) 48: Okay, gourd-head. Get that cotton-picking butt off the ground. | |
| Lib. Congress Catalog Entries 37: How to live with your insanity; or, Don’t be a gourd head. | |
| Brood of Eagles (1976) 276: Just because you fly airplanes is no reason for you to sound like one of Johnny’s gourd-head mechanics. | |
| Swan Song 594: ‘This is where they died,’ he told her, as if she was the dumbest old gourdhead in the whole world. |
In phrases
(orig. US) to lose emotional control; to cause someone to do so.
| Bug Jack Barron 52: Howards blew his gourd. He threatened to strong-arm the network, lean on the sponsors [etc.]. | |
| Come Monday Morning 99: Her hands rip-tearin’ away at his Levi’s [...] like she’d flipped her gourd. | |
| Scrytch 🌐 You see this letter? If you read it, your whole day would be different. Your whole life, in fact. There’s another dimension where you did read it, and adventures that would blow your gourd took place. | |
| ugandamissions.org 🌐 They write, ‘Researchers have found that an accumulation of 200 or more life change units in a single year is followed by a significant increase in psychiatric disorders’ (118). In other words, rack up too many stress points and you’re liable to flip your gourd. | |
| Norton Records (catalog) 🌐 Wow! Killers galore from San Francisco’s wildest incognito surf instrumental combo! Sensational wet n’ wild echo swamped sound that’ll blow your gourd! | |
| Twitter 24 Mar. 🌐 the kittens at the bodega last night made me lose my gourd. |
1. extremely affected by a given drug, usu. cannabis or a hallucinogen.
| Principia Discordia 81: It also helps if one is absolutely zonked out of his gourd. | |
| We are the People Our Parents Warned Us Against 174: ‘Did you get off?’ ‘Not like I usually do – outa my gourd.’. | |
| Beyond Valley of the Dolls [film script] The man’s out of his gourd. | |
| Bill [...] on the Planet of Robot Slaves (1991) 138: If you think I’m going to explain comparative religion to a metal life form [...] you are out of your gourd. | |
| This Is How You Lose Her 98: I might have been zooted out of my gourd most of the time. |
2. extremely drunk.
| Queens’ Vernacular 144: out of one’s bag [gourd, squash] very drunk, high or mad. | |
| (con. 1962) Enchanters 61: She was zorched out of her gourd. |
3. (also off one’s gourd) crazy, insane.
| Sometime a Great Notion 61: Lee, what’s happened? [...] You out of your gourd? | |
| Bug Jack Barron 25: You’re out of your gourd, Rastus! | |
| Ball Four 99: Bob Smith went out of his gourd. | |
| Serial 94: Have you gone totally off your gourd? | |
| (con. 1966) Lords of Discipline 120: The knob was out of his gourd. | |
| Busted 70: Maybe we were off our gourd, but [...] we weren’t the only ones who thought that the search warrants smelled. |
to an extreme degree, usu. of intoxication or craziness.
| Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 31: Old slew-foot Nietzsche. Bombed out of his gourd by the nowhereness of it all. | |
| Serial 73: She was still stoned out of her gourd. | |
| Stand (1990) 728: I’m crazy myself. Tripped right outta my fuckin gourd. | |
| Too Much Too Soon (1986) 371: You’re stoned out of your fucking gourd. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | Totally True Diaries of an Eighties Roller Queen 🌐 16 May Well, everyone was pissed out of their gore. It was funny. | |
| Campus Sl. Mar. 9: trashed out of one’s gourd – drunk. | |
| (con. 1964–8) Cold Six Thousand 409: Dino’s bombed out of his gourd. He’s so blotto that he blunders behind the Viet Cong lines. | |
| Pies and Prejudice (2008) 14: De Quincey [...] was whacked out of his gourd on opium most of the time. | |
| Widespread Panic 86: ‘You’re out of your gourd’. |