bogey

Meanings

Noun

• The Devil.
• A ghost, goblin, or other hostile supernatural creature.
• A bugbear: any terrifying thing.
• A standard of performance set up as a mark to be aimed at in competition.
• An unidentified aircraft, especially as observed as a spot on a radar screen and suspected to be hostile.
• Synonym of bandit: a known hostile aircraft.
• A score of one over par on a hole.
• Alternative of booger: a piece of mucus in or removed from the nostril.
• A bog-standard (representative) specimen taken from the center of production.
• A swim or bathe; a bath.
• Alternate spelling of bogie

Verb

• To make a bogey.
• To swim; to bathe.

Origin

• Probably related to or alteration of bogle, akin to or from a variant of Middle English bugge ("frightening specter, scarecrow"), perhaps from obsolete Welsh bwg ("ghost, hobgoblin"; compare Welsh bwgwl ("threat", older "fear")) or from Proto-Germanic *bugja- (compare Norwegian bugge, dialectal Low German Bögge. Perhaps the Middle English and Welsh words come from a word related to buck and originally referred to a goat-shaped specter.
• Also possibly related to Irish bagairt.
• Golf meaning from the devil as an imaginary player.
• From Dharug bugi-.
• A variant of bogie.