A cold northeasterly wind, particularly in nautical or meteorological contexts (chiefly archaic or dialectal).
From Middle Low German 'goster' or related Germanic roots. The word reflects Old Germanic weather terminology preserved in nautical vocabulary across Northern European languages.
European languages kept these specific wind names alive in maritime culture because sailors needed precise terminology—Spanish has 'levante,' Arabic has 'khamsin,' and English borrowed dozens of these words from neighbors.
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