Meanings
alternative gao luk · alternative gau lak · alternative gau luk
- SingaporecolloquialuncountableRoasted chestnuts.
I saw in the papers that there was this graduate frying "gao luk".
2004 February 3, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet)4 more examples
The economy now had a wide range of jobs, and society here welcomed a broad spectrum of ideas."........ get ready to sell gao lak/chestnuts for a living, maybe that's what he means.... :P
2003 June 4, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet)In China, even buying gao lak or chestnuts from a street vendor is done via e-payment methods such as WeChat Pay and AliPay. This is one area Singapore is lagging behind, PM Lee noted.
2017 August 20, Lee Min Kok, “PM Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech: All you need to know in 3 minutes”, in The Straits TimesChestnuts roasted on wooden pushcarts. Gao lak probably fell out of fashion when littering laws came into effect and tossing the chestnut shells behind you as you walk would earn you a fine.
2015 April 14, Natalie Koh, “17 Nostalgic Street Snacks in Singapore that Bring Tears to Our Eyes”, in Tripzilla:Make it happenKuali Baba: Today as I walked passed the gao lak seller, I almost thought I heard him chanting that.
2007 March 9, “'No more sweet potato boy – SgForums.com (Singapore)”, in SGFORUMS
Origin
- Teochew侯栗“chestnut”
- Englishgao lak
Borrowed from Teochew 侯栗 (gao⁶ lag⁸, “chestnut”).
More words from Teochew
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
gao lak. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gao%20lak
“gao lak.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gao%20lak. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gao lak,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gao%20lak.
Source: gao lak on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.