gozz

English

Etymology

Alteration of gob. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Verb

gozz (third-person singular simple present gozz, present participle gozzing, simple past and past participle gozzed)

1. (British) to spit
   • 2013, Nick Oldham, Bad Tidings, Severn House Publishers, →ISBN, page 164:

     He had had the privilege of being gozzed on by Johnny Rotten. A night to treasure. He hadn't washed for three days after.

   • 2014, Joseph O'Connor, The Thrill of it All, Random House, →ISBN, page 119:

     One of them gozzed at him, which was a thing you'd see at a gig back then. Disgusting I know, but that's the way it was.

   • 2018, Roger Smith, Tell Me Why, Troubador Publishing, →ISBN, page 120:

     Unfortunately it quite often sidelined any democratic processes and became an integral part of the general mayhem as some unfortunate misfit of the moment was held down and gozzed on.

Maltese

Root
g-z-z
3 terms

Alternative forms

• gods (archaic)

Etymology

From Arabic كُدْس (kuds, “heap of grain”). In the original plural أَكْداس (ʔakdās) and in certain forms of the related verb كَدَسَ (kadasa), the -k- was voiced by assimilation to the following -d-, and this voicing was then generalised (as in gideb, gidem etc.). In a second step the cluster -ds- was reanalysed as -zz-, leading to the new plural gzuz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɔt͡s/

Noun

gozz m (plural gzuz)

1. heap, pile

   Synonyms: borġ, għarma

Related terms

• geddes