[‘ /intr./ To idle, trifle, gossip; to lounge about; to fritter away (time).']
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈɡamə/, U.S. /ˈɡæmər/
Etymology: < gammer n. With the likely semantic motivation compare gossip v., gossip n., cummer n.
/Eng. regional/ (chiefly north.). Now rare.
/intr./ To idle, trifle, gossip; to lounge about; to fritter away (time).
1788 W. Marshall /Provincialisms E. Yorks./ in /Rural Econ. Yorks./ II. 331 To Gammer, to idle.
1873 J. Harland /Gloss. Words Swaledale/ 48/1 /Gammer/, to idle, or trifle… ‘What is thou (are you) gammering away thy (your) time there for?’
1876 F. K. Robinson /Gloss. Words Whitby/ 75/1 ‘Gying gammering about’, sauntering and tattling all over.
1928 A. E. Pease /Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks./, /Gammer/, to idle, waste time.