gaudies

Noun (1)

gaudy (plural gaudies)

1. (archaic) One of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster is recited.
   • In 1458, the owner of the precious book, which had been taken from the martyr’s body at the block, left a rosary of 50 coral beads with gold gaudies, to his “beloved, most blessed Saint Richard Scrope,” to help in his canonization, with a prayer to God that it might be granted of His great grace.1894, James Hamilton Wylie, History of England under Henry the Fourth, volume 2, pages 356–7

Noun (2)

gaudy (plural gaudies)

1. (Oxford University) A reunion held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford for alumni, normally during the long vacation.
   • And since then, Mary had married and scarcely been heard of; except that she had haunted the College with a sick persistence, never missing an Old Students’ Meeting or a Gaudy.1935, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night

See all 4 meanings of gaudy