Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Australia, New Zealand, informal A long uphill road or trail without a resting place.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Possibly related to the Celtic goddess Anann (an aspect of the Mórrígan responsible, among other things, for culling weak cattle) or to the Stephen Foster song Gentle Annie (1856).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Gentle Annie.

Examples

  • Bud he was goin 'to untie me, but I says for the love of Mike leave me tied or I'll take a chair and brain that Chola what kicked Gentle Annie in the stummick this mornin'.

    Sundown Slim Henry Herbert Knibbs 1909

  • The lowing of Gentle Annie as she mildly endeavored to make it known that milking-time was past, the muffled grunting of the two pigs as they rooted in the mud or poked flat flexible noses through the bars, the restless padding of Chance to and from the bedroom, merely harmonized in chorus with audible slumbers until one of the hens cackled.

    Sundown Slim Henry Herbert Knibbs 1909

  • So had Gentle Annie, munching a reflective cud, and Sundown, in a metaphorical sense, doing likewise.

    Sundown Slim Henry Herbert Knibbs 1909

  • With Jimmy installed in a box of straw in the kitchen, the pigs fed, and Gentle Annie grazing contentedly, Sundown felt able to relax.

    Sundown Slim Henry Herbert Knibbs 1909

  • Then he strode from the house and made his rounds, inspecting the pigs, shooing the chickens to their coop, and finally making a short pilgrimage to where Gentle Annie was grazing.

    Sundown Slim Henry Herbert Knibbs 1909

  • Meanwhile Chance lay gravely watching his master until Gentle Annie had been relieved of the full and creamy quota of her donation to the maintenance of the household.

    Sundown Slim Henry Herbert Knibbs 1909

  • In the middle of all this business, the two ladies and Alick, the eldest of the children, had started Gentle Annie for home, straight down the centre of the course.

    Outback Marriage, an : a story of Australian life 1902

  • Other cases show various accidental suggestions, such as the tune Mozart suggested by the composer's name, the tune Gentle Annie suggested by the name Annie, etc. In all these cases it is only after the tune has taken possession of consciousness and after much seeking that the suggesting influence is discovered.

    The Story of the Mind James Mark Baldwin 1897

  • Why yes, there's nothing I look forward to so much as bashing my smalls against a rock by the side of a river instead of letting Gentle Annie agitate them for me.

    Stuff.co.nz - Stuff 2010

  • Git into your clothes, Gentle Annie, and we'll smoke 'em up proper. "

    The Dude Wrangler Caroline Lockhart 1916

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • I have never heard this usage in my lifetime.

    September 10, 2022