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• gore
  gore

  noun

  blood that is shed, especially when clotted.
• Gore
  Gore

  noun

  Albert Arnold, Jr. Al, born 1948, U.S. politician: vice president of the U.S. 1993–2001.

gore

¹ American  

[gawr, gohr] / gɔr, goʊr /

noun

1. blood that is shed, especially when clotted.

2. murder, bloodshed, violence, etc..

   That horror movie had too much gore.

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gore ² American  

[gawr, gohr] / gɔr, goʊr /

verb (used with object)

gored, goring

1. to pierce with or as if with a horn or tusk.

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gore ³ American  

[gawr, gohr] / gɔr, goʊr /

noun

1. a triangular piece of material inserted in a garment, sail, etc., to give it greater width or a desired shape.

2. one of the panels, usually tapering or shaped, making up a garment, as a skirt.

3. a triangular tract of land, especially one lying between larger divisions.

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verb (used with object)

gored, goring

1. to make or furnish with a gore or gores.

Gore ⁴ American  

[gawr, gohr] / gɔr, goʊr /

noun

1. Albert Arnold, Jr. Al, born 1948, U.S. politician: vice president of the U.S. 1993–2001.

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Gore ⁵ American  

[gawr-ay, gohr-ay] / ˈgɔr eɪ, ˈgoʊr eɪ /

noun

1. a city in W Ethiopia.

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gore ¹ British  

/ ɡɔː /

noun

1. a tapering or triangular piece of material used in making a shaped skirt, umbrella, etc

2. a similarly shaped piece, esp of land

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verb

1. (tr) to make into or with a gore or gores

gore ² British  

/ ɡɔː /

noun

1. blood shed from a wound, esp when coagulated

2. informal killing, fighting, etc

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Gore ³ British  

/ ɡɔː /

noun

1. Al ( bert ) Jr. born 1948, US Democrat politician; vice president of the US (1993–2001); defeated in the disputed presidential election of 2000; leading environmental campaigner; shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel For Climate Change

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gore ⁴ British  

/ ɡɔː /

verb

1. (tr) (of an animal, such as a bull) to pierce or stab (a person or another animal) with a horn or tusk

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Other Word Forms

• gored
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of gore¹

First recorded in before 900; Middle English gor(r)e “filth, moral filth,” Old English gor “dung, bull dung, dirt”; cognate with Dutch goor, Old High German gor “filth,” Old Norse gor “cud”

Origin of gore²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English gor(r)en “to pierce, stab,” derivative of gōre “spear, javelin, dart,” from Old English gār spear, shaft, arrow”; see also gore ³

Origin of gore³

First recorded before 900; Middle English gor(e), gar(e) “triangular piece of land, triangular piece of cloth,” Old English gāra “triangular piece of land, corner” (cognate with German Gehre “gusset”); akin to Old English gār “spear”; see gore ² ( def. )

Explanation

Do you like horror movies? Then you probably like gore: bloody, yucky, violent action. Gore certainly includes the bloody violence in zombie movies, but it can also refer to real-life violence, especially bloodshed and murder. If you stabbed someone with a sword, you gored them. An animal with sharp horns, like a bull, can gore a person to death. Gore is also blood that's clotting in a wound. An un-bloody, unrelated meaning of gore is a triangle-shaped piece of cloth used in making umbrellas, sails, and some clothes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gore Gore gored goring

In August 2023, according to the release, Normandin-Parker’s friend, Luna Moore, got sick in the Uber and the driver, Vu Tran, stopped at a freeway gore point, the triangular area by the freeway’s off-ramp.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

I don’t think it’s entirely unfair to say that a large portion of the effusive response to “Obsession” has been from younger viewers getting their first taste of topical horror gore shocks.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

This is Hollywood's latest horror film - Backrooms - and it knows its audience: one more drawn to whispered horror than A-list names, monsters and gore.

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

In addition to grime, gore and disdain for governments, the ragtime gangsters of “Peaky Blinders” provided a minor education.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026

When I checked the window, T. Ray was coming out of the orchard toward the house, fists balled, head plowed forward like a bull wanting to gore something.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

The fishing: Gore Creek bears Colorado’s Gold Medal designation for wild trout water—the state’s highest classification.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

The place: Situated directly on the banks of Gore Creek, the Grand Hyatt Vail Resort & Spa is one of the rare hotels where serious fly fishing is only steps from the front door.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

The firefighters were part of a federal response team assigned to the Knowles and Gore fires.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

“Would Gore have used it if he knew?” asked Craig Callender, a philosophy professor at the University of California San Diego, referring to the details of BP’s involvement.

From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026

That leads to an error called a hypercorrection, in which people use a nominative pronoun in an accusative coordination: Give Al Gore and I a chance to bring America back.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Five of the 57 injured are foreign nationals: two Britons, an Australian, an American and a German who was gored in his left arm.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

They don’t really care about “the reasons” or how others were experiencing America, whose ox the past few decades was being gored.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026

A bison was “defending its space” when it gored an 83-year-old tourist in Yellowstone National Park, officials said.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 6, 2024

Last July, a 47-year-old woman sustained significant injuries after being charged and gored by a bison.

From New York Times ● Jun. 5, 2024

We spent the morning talking and looking at examples of trees gored by shedding antlers and branches snapped by lumbering bodies.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

It’s true that Mamdani has a huge stake in diverting the Trump bull from goring New York.

From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2025

Park officials say it’s the first reported bison goring this year.

From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2022

In his new essay, he recounts the goring:

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2014

Even though goring accidents are common, few result in life-threatening injuries.

From New York Times ● Jul. 9, 2014

Out on the range, the horse had experienced everything, including a bull goring that had left a gouge in his rump.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand