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In the urban dictionary, I read
Groak : Verb. To stare silently at someone while they are eating, in the hopes that they will give you some of their food.
Always careful not to establish eye contact with potential groakers, Mark wolfed down the last of his mother's famous apple pie.
My question is about knowing if this verb is a new word, its supposed etymology and (possibly) get quotations of it in the literature.
It appears to be an old dialectal Scottish term with different spellings, now also a slang (not common) term.
It’s not in the OED, but it is in Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang: "groak" n. also growk [20C+] (Ulster):
- a child who sits watching others eating, in the hope of being asked to join them. [synon. Scot. groak].”
From the Dictionary of the Scots Language:
GROWK, v., n. Also grook, grouk, groak, groke, groach. [grʌuk, gro:k]:
1. (v) To look at someone with a watchful or suspicious eye; to look longingly at something, esp. of a child or dog begging for food (Ags.4 1920; n.Ant. 1924 North. Whig (14 Jan.); Kcd., Ags., Per. 1955). †By extension: to come thoroughly awake after a sleep, sc. by focussing the eyes on surrounding objects (Dmf. 1825 Jam.).
- Ags. 1808 Jam.: Grouk is often used, as denoting the watchfulness of a very niggardly person, who is still afraid that any of his property be given away or carried off.
- Gall. a.1813 A. Murray Hist. Eur. Langs. (1823) I. 393: To groke, in Scotish, is to stretch for meat like a dog.
- Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) xviii.: Nathan was stanin' at the table as uswal, growk-growkin' awa' for a bit o' my tea biskit. “I dinna like growkin' bairns,” I says to Nathan.
- Per. 1900 E.D.D.: There's the gamekeeper groakin' aboot.
2. To look intently or wistfully so as to attract attention.
- Rs. 1944 C. M. Maclean Farewell to Tharrus 79: She grooked a little, and tried to lick my chin. “Where's Laddie?” I whispered to her. She whined and ran off.
Groak by Uncommon Parlance:
Have you ever been enjoying a meal in your favourite eatery and suddenly got the impression that someone is looking at you? You look around and see a lonely soul, perched above their soup, a look of hope and pleading in their eyes. That, gentle reader, is a groaker. To Groak is to look longingly after some wanted object, and specifically, to longingly watch someone while they eat in the hope of being invited to join them.
Etymology: Unclear, Possibly Scots or Ulster Gaelic. The word is found in Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang as both “groak” and “growk” It also shows its face in The Dictionary of the Scots Language.
