goose pimples
Americanplural noun
Usage
What are goose pimples? Goose pimples is another name for goose bumps—an informal term for what happens when your hair stands up, such as when you’re cold or scared. It’s also called gooseflesh and goose skin. Technical terms for it are horripilation, piloerection, and cutis anserina. The verb horripilate means to trigger horripilation—to give someone goose bumps, as in Horror stories have the power to horripilate the viewer. It can also mean to experience horripilation—to get goose pimples. Another way of saying you have goose pimples is to say that your hair is standing on end. Goose pimples are most noticeable in places where we don’t have much hair or the hair is very fine, such as the arms and neck. Sometimes, it just appears as raised bumps on the skin. These bumps are said to resemble those on the skin of a goose that has had its feathers plucked, hence the name. Goose pimples aren’t actually pimples, though they affect the same parts of the skin. Goose pimples are most commonly associated with their appearance due to cold or scary situations, but you can also get goose pimples from being wowed by something, such as a beautiful singing performance. The term can be used in a figurative way to refer to such a feeling, similar to the chills. Or it can refer to a creepy feeling, as in That abandoned house gives me goose pimples. Similar terms are the creeps, the heebie-jeebies, and the willies. Example: The kids are shivering and they have goose pimples, but they still want to play outside in the cold.
Other Word Forms
- goose-pimply adjective
Etymology
Origin of goose pimples
First recorded in 1885–90
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.
However, Ms Edwards said what gave her "goose pimples" was the couple's excitement to marry each other.
From BBC • Nov. 24, 2023
“You get goose pimples, chill bumps or whatever you want to call them,” Currie said.
From Washington Times • Aug. 17, 2017
He is often underslept, has the beginnings of jowls and tiny goose pimples clustered under his eyes like those on the belly of a toad.
From New York Times • Jun. 21, 2016
If it has moved her she shows me where it makes goose pimples on her arms.
From Time • Nov. 19, 2015
Genie ran his finger over the fabric, hitting a cluster of little bumps, like the shirt had invisible goose pimples.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
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.
