goer meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

goer

noun

US /ˈɡoʊɚ/

Etymology From Middle English goere, equivalent to go + -er. Compare German Geher (“goer, walker”).

One who, or that which, goes.

Such a man Might be a copy to these younger times; Which, follow’d well, would demonstrate them now But goers backward.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
1845, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Letter to Hannah Macaulay dated 19 December, 1845 in G. Otto Trevelyan (ed.), The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, New York: Harper, 1875, Volume 2, p. 149, Lord John has been all day in his inner library. His antechamber has been filled with comers and goers, some talking in knots, some writing notes at tables.

2 more examples

[…] the two classes of men; on the one hand the steady goers of superhuman strength […] plodding and persevering, […]; on the other the gifted, the inspired […]1927, Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, London: The Hogarth Press, published 1930, Part 1, p. 58:
He despised the museum and its goers for everything they didn’t know.2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:

Informal Anything, especially a machine such as a motor car, that performs well, or operates successfully.

I bought her secondhand, but she's a good little goer.

UK, Slang A person, often a woman, who enjoys sexual activity.

Norman: Is your wife a ... goer ... eh? Know what I mean? Know what I mean? Nudge nudge.1969, Monty Python, Nudge Nudge:
He winked at Parsons. "If I'm any judge, she must've bin a right little goer in 'er day."1990, Hampton Charles, Advantage Miss Seeton, page 45:

2 more examples

'[…](Intimate, man to man) Eh, I bet she's a goer, int she sunshine? She's got a fair pair of knockers on her too.'2001, Peter Buse, Drama + Theory: Critical Approaches to Modern British Drama, page 102:
'I can tell that yer a right little goer, hey Larsie?!' I call over two slappers and slip them a few hundred! Before I know it me and Lars and the two slappers are rolling around a giant bed with the hungriest genitals in Gay Paree!2001, Edna Walsh, Bedbound and Misterman, →ISBN, page 22:

Obsolete A foot (body part).

[…] a double Mantle cast A’ thwart his Shoulders, his faire goers g[r]ac’st With fitted shooes; and in his hand, a Dartc. 1615, George Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses, London: Nathaniell Butter, Book 13, p. 202:

Dated A horse, considered in reference to its gait.

a safe goer
These Horses, which are very much bought up in England, are remarkable for being good natural Pacers, strong, easy Goers, hardy, gentle, well-broken, and, above all, not apt to tire.1727, Daniel Defoe, “A Tour thro’ the Whole Island of Great Britain”, in et al., London: J. Osborn, published 1742, Volume 4, Letter 3, p. 106:

1 more example

‘I’d like nothing better this minute,’ said Mr Browne stoutly, ‘than a rattling fine walk in the country or a fast drive with a good spanking goer between the shafts.’1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “The Dead”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 257:

Firefighting, Government Slang A fire incident in progress.

[…] multiple calls on Southwark's ground. From the radio traffic it sounded like they had a goer.2023, A. J. Taylor, Firefighting: Better than Working for a Living:

Derived terms: 145 terms
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