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.

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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]

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Etymology

Origin of goose egg

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

Example Sentences

When Big Gen started setting breakfast on the table, my eyes got as big as goose eggs.

From Literature

“Look at that goose egg on his head,” another voice said.

From Literature

But it didn’t make up for what had been a rough season that contained at least two goose eggs on the scoreboard.

From Los Angeles Times

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

As in, the five goose eggs the Dodgers’ once-struggling bullpen put on the scoreboard.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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