What does "gannet" mean?

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.

What is a synonym for "gannet"?

Common synonyms include: cormorant, epicure, glutton, gormandizer, guttle, hog.

Gannet

//ˈɡænɪt// noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

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
large heavily built seabird with a long stout bill noted for its plunging dives for fish wordnet
3
A voracious eater; a glutton. British, South-Africa

Verb

1
To wolf down, gobble or eat (something) voraciously. British, informal, transitive
"She was no longer in the company of her older sister and mother who had often scolded her for ganneting down her food."

Synonyms

All synonyms

cormorant epicure glutton gormandizer guttle hog

Example

More examples

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

Etymology

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. Cognates Cognate with Dutch gent, Middle Low German gante, German Ganter, Ganser, all “gander, male goose”.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.