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goggle

American  
[gog-uhl] / ˈgɒg əl /

noun

  1. goggles,

    1. large spectacles equipped with special lenses, protective rims, etc., to prevent injury to the eyes from strong wind, flying objects, blinding light, etc.

    2. spectacles designed for a special purpose, as night-vision or stereoscopic goggles.

    3. Informal. glasses, or eyeglasses.

      I can't see a thing without my goggles.

  2. a bulging or wide-open look of the eyes; stare.


verb (used without object)

  • goggles,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • goggled,
    past participle,  past
  • goggling
    present participle
  1. to stare with bulging or wide-open eyes.

    Synonyms:
    glare, gawp, gawk, ogle, gape
  2. (of the eyes) to bulge and be wide open in a stare.

  3. to roll the eyes.

  4. (of the eyes) to roll.

  5. Informal. spearfish.

verb (used with object)

  • goggles,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • goggled,
    past participle,  past
  • goggling
    present participle
  1. to roll (the eyes).

adjective

  1. (of the eyes) rolling, bulging, or staring.

goggle British  
/ ˈɡɒɡəl /

verb

  1. (intr) to stare stupidly or fixedly, as in astonishment

  2. to cause (the eyes) to roll or bulge or (of the eyes) to roll or bulge

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a fixed or bulging stare

  2. (plural) spectacles, often of coloured glass or covered with gauze: used to protect the eyes

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of goggle

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English gogelen “to look aside, squint”

Explanation

When you goggle, you stare with wide-open bug eyes. You might goggle at a monkey riding a unicycle down the main street of your town. You may have heard of goggles — those large, plastic glasses that you use to protect your eyes while you are skiing or using a blowtorch. You might look like you are wearing goggles when you goggle at something. If you are looking for a new way to say "What are you looking at?!" Try: "What are you goggling at?!"

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing goggle

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

I asked as I breezed through the door, my cheeks a golden tan from the goggle line down.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 8, 2024

The Tactical edition is “popular with military personnel” and has features such as stealth mode and night vision goggle compatibility.

From The Verge Feb. 9, 2022

Sporting high-cut helmets with night-vision goggle mounts, plate carriers and U.S. camouflage patterns, the guards looked like caricatures of the elite troops who have hunted insurgents in nightly raids and firefights.

From Washington Post Aug. 25, 2021

Since 2003 the United States has provided Afghan forces with at least 600,000 infantry weapons including M16 assault rifles, 162,000 pieces of communication equipment, and 16,000 night-vision goggle devices.

From Reuters Aug. 19, 2021

Andrew Peckleman, the boy with the Olympic-sized goggle glasses who worked at the motel, came into the lobby when she was about halfway done.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein

And you shouldn't be tempted to try using sunglasses or dark goggles instead.

From BBC Aug. 11, 2026

He needs to wear special eyewear — usually goggles or glasses — to control the beams of energy that blast from his eyes.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 6, 2026

"But please send things that are more necessary. Yes, food is necessary, but if you see fans, masks, goggles, these are also very important right now."

From Barron's Jul. 23, 2026

All you need is a swimsuit, cap and goggles.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 6, 2026

“So, Connor,” Dad said, removing his ridiculous goggles, “what are you interested in? I mean besides pulling morbid pranks with my daughter and scaring our visitors away.”

From "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" by Dusti Bowling

Tourists and Parisians goggled at the sight of the French capital's oldest bridge transformed into a giant "cave" on Thursday, a spectacular new public work by the street artist JR.

From Barron's May 21, 2026

There was a whole wall of car parts lit up in pink that I goggled at for a minute.

From The Verge Apr. 14, 2022

Moments before launching some 20 feet skyward, his goggled eyes are fixed straight ahead.

From Seattle Times Feb. 10, 2022

Inside, I goggled alongside the tourists at classic works of Western art sitting alongside Chinese and Indian and Arab masterpieces.

From New York Times Jan. 9, 2020

Van Eck goggled at Wylan, searching for some sign of his son’s features.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

Twitter lent itself to appreciating great TV and to goggling at trash; it was equally a vehicle for “Isn’t this amazing?” and “What the hell are we watching?”

From New York Times Jul. 10, 2023

And of course this made for yet more must-see, silent, slack-jawed, public goggling.

From Slate May 27, 2020

All of us New Yorkers stopped dead, goggling at plates that held individual molds of red Jell-O topped with a dab of something too yellow to be Cool Whip.

From New York Times Nov. 25, 2019

These would fade away little by little, and the giggling denigrations would be replaced by goggling admirations, a slow fade-up that might not be noticed if it weren’t part of the eternal foster cycle.

From The New Yorker Sep. 20, 2010

“But you have been misleading me, young woman!” said Xenophilius, now sitting up much straighter in his chair and goggling at Hermione.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

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