gorge
1 Americannoun
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a narrow cleft with steep, rocky walls, especially one through which a stream runs.
-
a small canyon.
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a gluttonous meal.
-
something that is swallowed; contents of the stomach.
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an obstructing mass.
an ice gorge.
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the seam formed at the point where the lapel meets the collar of a jacket or coat.
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Fortification. the rear entrance or part of a bastion or similar outwork.
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Also called gorge hook. a primitive type of fishhook consisting of a piece of stone or bone with sharpened ends and a hole or groove in the center for fastening a line.
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the throat; gullet.
verb (used with object)
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gorges,
present (3rd person singular)
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gorged,
past participle, past
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gorging
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
gorges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gorged,
past participle, past
-
gorging
present participle
idioms
noun
noun
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a deep ravine, esp one through which a river runs
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the contents of the stomach
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feelings of disgust or resentment (esp in the phrase one's gorge rises )
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an obstructing mass
an ice gorge
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fortifications
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a narrow rear entrance to a work
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the narrow part of a bastion or outwork
-
-
archaic the throat or gullet
verb
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(intr) falconry (of hawks) to eat until the crop is completely full
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to swallow (food) ravenously
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(tr) to stuff (oneself) with food
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
gorgesimple
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gorgessimple
-
have gorgedperfect
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has gorgedperfect
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am gorgingprogressive
-
are gorgingprogressive
-
is gorgingprogressive
-
have been gorgingperfect progressive
-
has been gorgingperfect progressive
Past
-
gorgedsimple
-
had gorgedperfect
-
was gorgingprogressive
-
were gorgingprogressive
-
had been gorgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gorge
First recorded in 1325–75; (verb) Middle English, from Old French gorger, derivative of gorge “throat,” from unattested Vulgar Latin gorga, akin to Latin gurguliō “gullet, throat,” gurges “whirlpool, eddy”
Explanation
A gorge is a very deep crevice between two mountains or hills. Gorges are formed by rivers running through and eroding rock over a very long period of time. The Latin root of gorge means "throat," leading to both the "narrow passage" meaning and the French gorgier, "to swallow," which influenced the verb version of gorge, "to overeat." You may love to gorge on ice cream, but the stomachache afterward won't be very pleasant. To remember the "canyon" meaning, think of the famous upstate New York bumper sticker, “Ithaca is gorges.” It's a play on gorgeous, meaning beautiful, and the beautiful ravines in the area.
Vocabulary lists containing gorge
Hatchet
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Physical Geography - Introductory
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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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:
A colony of macaques that gorge on snacks offered by tourists in the British territory of Gibraltar swallow soil to recover from their junk food binges, a study has found.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
The ambitious action-adventure's been compared to a buffet, presenting players with a smorgasbord of ideas, gameplay styles and quests to gorge on.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2026
These networks will gorge themselves during the feast years, then adapt to leaner times, remaining profitable, just not explosive.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 3, 2025
He learned that after a kill, lionesses gorge yet seldom bring food to their young.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
And to his uncle’s son he said, although the gorge rose in his throat, yet he said, “Here is a bit of silver, for young men will play.”
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
Beside him, a younger woman was planning to embark on a long taxi drive with him, across steep mountain passes and narrow gorges, first to Armenia's capital, Yerevan, and then on to nearby Georgia.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2025
Elisabeth, resentful, gorges on whatever fatty food she can find.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2025
In the same way that trees function as Earth's lungs, migrating animals—eating, pooping and dying along the way—circulate nitrogen and phosphorus from deep-sea gorges to mountain peaks and from the poles to the tropics.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 19, 2023
In the early 1900s, Canadian entrepreneur Thomas Aldwell saw the river and its narrow gorges as an economic opportunity.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 30, 2023
As he gorges on sugar, Mom picks over his treats, checking for anything that’s open or “out of the question.”
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
January tends to come with a slowdown in spending after consumers have gorged on shopping for the holidays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026
But it’s not like I opened the box and gorged myself on the pictures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2025
Instead, the American and British public gorged on the sensationalism because that was the supposedly “official” record.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2025
Steve Smith and Travis Head gorged on some below-par bowling before the Aussie pace bowlers thundered into a shell-shocked India top order.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2023
The cat had gorged itself on cream and was lying like a side of bacon in the middle of the tea party.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
The private-equity industry, after gorging on technology investments in the wake of the pandemic, is now coming back around to bread-and-butter companies such as industrial suppliers and service providers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2025
After spending July gorging on the larvae of alkali flies, the birds are gradually departing this month to begin their migration to another saline lake about 6,000 miles away — Laguna Mar Chiquita in Argentina.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2025
And lots of fright fans don’t limit their horror entertainment to spooky season, gorging horror movies, shows and books all year long.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2024
“It seems to have been really gorging itself, eating very rapidly.”
From Scientific American ● Sep. 28, 2023
There are people gorging themselves, others sipping wine, while a young couple kiss over the table and share their food.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
