Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a soldier or a marine.

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang.
1818		‘A. Burton’ Adventures of Johnny Newcome II 102: Some Galoots, who ne’er till now Had made across the Line a trip, Were stowed away on board his ship.
1831		Navy at Home I 42: The corporal of marines, and a couple of files of jolly guloots, as he facetiously termed the marines.
1831		Navy at Home I 163: Dozy was a galoot, or one of those raw recruits Serjeants are plagued with — and plagued enough had the serjeant been with Dozy.
1838		W.N. Glascock Land Sharks and Sea Gulls II 196: As for his subs, the greenest of green ‘galoots,’ neither had an idea beyond a draught board, button burnisher, or stick of pipe clay.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict. 142: GEELOOT, a recruit, or awkward soldier.
1871		J. Hay ‘Jim Bludso’ Pike County Ballads 17: I’ll hold her nozzle agin the bank Till the last galoot’s ashore.
1875		Jasper Wkly Courier (IN) 1 Oct. 6/2: Who — is — this ’ere crazy — galute? I heern tell he used to bouse up his own jib pretty taut.
1894		Truth (Sydney) 11 Feb. 1/8: This massive-brained galoot — if he can peruse the following [...] will probably close up like a busted concertina.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 10 Mar. 25/3: I’d take long odds that the galoot who warbles – ‘A Sailor’s Life for Me!’ would be glad to change places with a penal-servitude prisoner, after 170 days’ hard graft on short rations in a disease-stricken wind-jammer.
1902		Shields Dly Gaz. 16 Oct. 4/5: ‘Leave the galoot,’ he yelled [...] ‘or I’ll make you smell hell, you white-livered, skulking, sea-sodgers’.
1911		Gem 7 Oct. 6: I guess one of them was a Spanish galoot with gold ear-rings.

2. (orig. US, also galloot, galoon, galoosh, galooter) an awkward or uncouth person, often used affectionately; occas. as v. (see cite 1873).

1821		‘A Real Paddy’ Real Life in Ireland 19: ‘How could I be after missing him when he laid so fair?’ ‘Fair in your bone-box! you foul galoosh!’.
1834		Marryat Jacob Faithful III 82: The tally is right [...] and four greater galoots were never picked up; but never mind that.
1867		‘Artemus Ward’ Artemus Ward among the Fenians in Complete Works (1922) 323: Wake, Bessy, wake, / My sweet galoot! / Rise up, fair lady, / While I touch my lute!
1873		Grantham Jrnl 7 June 7/1: [from Boston Globe] The Mayor galooted up the church aisle, swashaying and gyrating like a Chinese Joss with the jim-jams.
1878		F.H. Hart Sazerac Lying Club 205: I’m a D.O.G. (danged old galoot).
1883		Louisiana Democrat 14 Feb. 1/6: If there was law against young galoots sparking and marrying before they have all cut their teeth [etc.].
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 10 Jan. 20/1: In vain do we search amidst Utah’s galoots / For a second old duckey to fill up your boots.
1885		Santa Fe Weekly New Mexican 20 Aug. 2/6: Any galoot who wants the Ripsnorter for a year can have it left at his bar-room on payment of three red chips in advance [DA].
1887		in Overland Monthly (CA) Apr. 397: It won’t do no harm, to shut this galoot’s eye up.
1888		Kipling ‘Last of the Stories’ in Civil & Military Gaz. 15 Sept. (1909) 305: ‘Let the galoot go’.
1890		Star (London) 2 Sept. 4/1: Sing Wing Tee / Was a sweet chinee / [...] / And she fell in love with a gay galoot.
1896		E. Dyson ‘The Shanty’ in Rhymes from Mines 168: It’s a [...] bar and a bunk, / And a man propped before it disgustedly drunk, / And a nameless galoot in a hand-me-down suit.
1902		Western Times 14 June 6/1: I called her a galoot which she resents bitterly.
1903		J. Furphy Such is Life 7: That strapping red-headed galoot, riding the bag of bones beside him, is what you would call excellent war-material?
1907		Sun. Times (Perth) 15 Sept. 4/8: Will they also clear the galleries and empty in the street / These galooters who humanity disgrace.
1910		Sun. Times (Perth) 20 Mar. 2nd sect. 15/5: Several big galoots [...] engaged in a sand-throwing battle [...] When remonstrated with the offenders used blistering language.
1912		Van Loan ‘Behind the Mask’ in Ten-Thousand-Dollar Arm 235: You don’t dare look cross-eyed at the old galoot these days.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 105: Now who is that lankylooking galoot over there in the macintosh?
1925		Smith’s Wkly (Sydney) 19 Dec. 3/2: I tells yer we’re all poor, weak, silly galoots ’ere below.
1927		W. Edge Main Stem 34: Hey, youse lousey-eared, yeller galoots.
1932		‘William Hatfield’ Ginger Murdoch 4: Always some galoot picks on me ’cos I’m small, an’ look an easy mark!
1938		X. Herbert Capricornia (1939) 69: ‘Where’d I get me mouth — and me brains too?’ ‘Not off me you poor galoot. And don’t you start young man.’.
1942		E. Cross Tailor and Ansty 38: I don’t mean one of those galoots who have the title of being a doctor but have no knowledge.
1943		W. Guthrie Bound for Glory (1969) 355: Rave on, you silly galoon!
1959		D. Niland Big Smoke 32: A bloody big galoot!
1967		J. Schaefer Mavericks (1968) 114: An independent itchy-footed gallivanting galoot.
1968		A. Burgess Enderby Outside in Complete Enderby (2002) 305: Ah, here comes the old jalooty.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 47: A big, ugly black galoot chased her until she caught him.
1984		I. Doig Eng. Creek 207: I never could resist you McCaskill galoots.
1991		Desperate Dan Special No. 7 4: Ya big galoot!
2001		K. Sampson Outlaws (ms.) 2: Look how pleased he is to see YT, the big galloot.
2005		J. Stahl I, Fatty 182: Us big lovable galoots can be naïve.
2009		L. McIlvanney All the Colours 137: [A] skinny, long-haired galoot.
2020		G. Armstrong Young Team 77: ‘Sit down, Bill, you big galoot’.