geek

4 definitions found

geek - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  geek \geek\ (g[=e]k), n.
     1. A performer in a carnival, often presented as a wild man,
        who performs grotesquely disgusting acts, such as biting
        the head off a live chicken or snake.
        [PJC]
  
     2. Hence: Any eccentric or strange person; an oddball; an
        eccentric. [WordNet sense 1]
        [PJC]
  
     3. Hence: A student who is socially inept and a misfit in his
        class, especially one who is an intellectual; a nerd; a
        dork. [Informal]
        [PJC]
  
     4. Hence: An intellectually inclined person, especially one
        who is interested in scientific or technical subjects; as,
        a group of geeks wearing pocket protectors; -- originally
        a deprecatory and contemptuous term, but in the 1990's,
        with the increase in popularity of computers and the
        frequency of accumulation of great wealth by computer
        entrepreneurs, it has come to be used with noticeable
        frequency by technically competent people to refer to
        themselves, ironically and sometimes proudly. [Informal]
        [PJC]

geek - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  geek
      n 1: a carnival performer who does disgusting acts
      2: a person with an unusual or odd personality [syn:
         eccentric, eccentric person, flake, oddball, geek]

geek - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  computer geek
  computer nerd
  geek
  turbo nerd
  
     <jargon> (Or "turbo nerd", "turbo geek") One who eats
     (computer) bugs for a living.  One who fulfils all the
     dreariest negative stereotypes about hackers: an asocial,
     malodourous, pasty-faced monomaniac with all the personality
     of a cheese grater.  The term cannot be used by outsiders
     without implied insult to all hackers; compare
     black-on-black usage of "nigger".  A computer geek may be
     either a fundamentally clueless individual or a proto-hacker
     in larval stage.
  
     See also Alpha Geek, propeller head, clustergeeking,
     geek out, wannabee, terminal junkie, spod, weenie.
  
     [Jargon File]
  
     (1997-06-26)
  

geek - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  geek
   n.
  
     A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who
     pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not
     mainstream social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of
     neophilia. Most geeks are adept with computers and treat hacker
  as
     a term of respect, but not all are hackers themselves -- and some who
     are in fact hackers normally call themselves geeks anyway, because
     they (quite properly) regard `hacker' as a label that should be
     bestowed by others rather than self-assumed.
  
     One description accurately if a little breathlessly enumerates
     "gamers, ravers, science fiction fans, punks, perverts, programmers,
     nerds, subgenii, and trekkies. These are people who did not go to
     their high school proms, and many would be offended by the suggestion
     that they should have even wanted to."
  
     Originally, a geek was a carnival performer who bit the heads off
     chickens. (In early 20th-century Scotland a `geek' was an immature
     coley, a type of fish.) Before about 1990 usage of this term was
     rather negative. Earlier versions of this lexicon defined a computer
     geek as one who eats (computer) bugs for a living -- an asocial,
     malodorous, pasty-faced monomaniac with all the personality of a
     cheese grater. This is often still the way geeks are regarded by
     non-geeks, but as the mainstream culture becomes more dependent on
     technology and technical skill mainstream attitudes have tended to
     shift towards grudging respect. Correspondingly, there are now `geek
     pride' festivals (the implied reference to `gay pride' is not
     accidental).
  
     See also propeller head, clustergeeking, geek out, wannabee,
     terminal junkie, spod, weenie, geek code, alpha geek.