goose egg

American  

noun

Informal.

1. the numeral zero, often used to indicate the failure of a team to score in a game or unit of a game.

   a pitchers' duel, with nothing but goose eggs on the scoreboard.

2. a lump raised by a blow, especially on the head.

---

goose egg Idioms  

1. Zero, nothing, especially a score of zero. For example, Our team did badly, earning goose egg, or My income from writing this year was goose egg. This expression is an Americanization of the earlier British duck's egg. [Mid-1800s]

---

Etymology

Origin of goose egg

1350–1400; 1885–90, goose egg for def. 1; Middle English: the egg of a goose

Example Sentences

Don’t let the scoreboard fool you; it could have been an Orange Lutheran goose egg — so much so that Ellinghouse said he considered the game a shutout.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2025

I don't know how to put this other than to form a rhetorical circle with my thumb and forefinger signaling a big fat goose egg.

From Salon • Sep. 16, 2023

No punctures, but a little goose egg on top of her sweet head.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 7, 2023

Miller, who averages nearly 20 points, finally cracked the big goose egg when she put her head down to force a whistle with 2:53 remaining in the half.

From Washington Post • Mar. 25, 2023

“I suppose it is uncomfortable. How long does it take a goose egg to hatch?”

From "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White

Related Words

• nonentity