goldbrick
To shirk or malingerTo shirk or malinger.
Meaning
2 senses(US, dated, slang)To shirk or malinger.
(US, dated, slang)To swindle.
- avoid (one's assigned duties)
- deprive of by deceit
Origin
From gold + brick, originally (1850s) an actual gold ingot or brick, later a swindle thatFrom gold + brick, originally (1850s) an actual gold ingot or brick, later a swindle that consisted of selling a putative gold brick, which was only coated in gold. The swindle is attested from 1879, the sense “to swindle” is attested 1902, and the sense “to shirk” is attested 1914, popularized as World War I armed forces slang. In early 1900s, used to refer to an unattractive young woman – not pretty, nor able to talk or dance (attested 1903), thence to refer to incompetent enlisted troops at the start of World War I, reinforced by the rank insignia of second lieutenants, which was a gold rectangle.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
goldbricks, goldbricking, goldbricked, goldbricked| Base form | goldbrick · to goldbrick |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | goldbricks |
| Present participle | goldbricking |
| Past simple | goldbricked |
| Past participle | goldbricked |
regular · Lesson
Synonyms
15 synonymsWord family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.