geek
geek geek (g[=e]k), n.
1. A performer in a carnival, often presented as a wild man,
who performs grotesquely disgusting acts, such as biting
the head off a live chicken or snake.
[PJC]
2. Hence: Any eccentric or strange person; an oddball; an
eccentric. [WordNet sense 1]
[PJC]
3. Hence: A student who is socially inept and a misfit in his
class, especially one who is an intellectual; a nerd; a
dork. [Informal]
[PJC]
4. Hence: An intellectually inclined person, especially one
who is interested in scientific or technical subjects; as,
a group of geeks wearing pocket protectors; -- originally
a deprecatory and contemptuous term, but in the 1990's,
with the increase in popularity of computers and the
frequency of accumulation of great wealth by computer
entrepreneurs, it has come to be used with noticeable
frequency by technically competent people to refer to
themselves, ironically and sometimes proudly. [Informal]
[PJC]
-- From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48