garn

G2A1R1N1

noun

Yarn (twisted fibers for weaving) or worsted (woolen yarn).

OriginMiddle English garn ← Old Norse garn ← Proto-Germanic *garną →
UncommonScrabble 5
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Meanings

garn1

noungarn (uncountable)

alternative dialectal gairn

  1. dialectalobsoleteuncountableYarn (twisted fibers for weaving) or worsted (woolen yarn).

garn2

interjection
  1. CockneyslangA response that expresses disbelief or mockery.

    "[…] This is going to mean a gold watch and a week's outing at Southend with full pay for both of us or I'm a Dutchman." "Garn!"

    1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of London
    1 more example

    mrs pearce. […] But you dont know anything about her. What about her parents? She may be married. / liza. Garn! / higgins. There! As the girl very properly says, Garn! Married indeed! Dont you know that a woman of that class looks a worn out drudge of fifty a year after shes married?

    1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act II, page 125

Garn3

proper noun
  1. A surname.
    1 more example

    Jake Garn was sick, was pretty sick. I don't know whether we should tell stories like that. But anyway, Jake Garn, he has made a mark in the Astronaut Corps because he represents the maximum level of space sickness that anyone can ever attain, and so the mark of being totally sick and totally incompetent is one Garn. Most guys will get maybe to a tenth Garn, if that high.

    1999 May 13, Robert E. Stevenson, “ORAL HISTORY 2 TRANSCRIPT”, in NASA, archived from the original on 05 May 2026, page 35
nounGarn (plural not attested)
  1. no pluralA unit used to measure nausea. A score of one Garn means the sufferer is fully incapacitated.
    1 more example

    Jake Garn was sick, was pretty sick. I don't know whether we should tell stories like that. But anyway, Jake Garn, he has made a mark in the Astronaut Corps because he represents the maximum level of space sickness that anyone can ever attain, and so the mark of being totally sick and totally incompetent is one Garn. Most guys will get maybe to a tenth Garn, if that high.

    1999 May 13, Robert E. Stevenson, “ORAL HISTORY 2 TRANSCRIPT”, in NASA, archived from the original on 05 May 2026, page 35

Origin

garn · noun

  1. Proto-Germanic*garną“intestine, chord, yarn”
  2. Old Norsegarn
  3. Middle Englishgarn
  4. Englishgarn

From Middle English garn, from Old Norse garn, from Proto-Germanic *garną (“intestine, chord, yarn”). Akin to Danish garn (“yarn”), Swedish garn (“yarn”), Old English ġearn (“yarn”). Doublet of yarn.

More words from Middle English, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

garn · interjection

From go on.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with garn

barnyarndarntarnkarnbairnstarnsharnsmell the barn
All rhymes →

Anagrams

granranggnarnarg
Cite this entry
APA

garn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/garn

MLA

“garn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/garn. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “garn,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/garn.

Source: garn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.