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gore2

[gawr, gohr]
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verb (used with object), gored, gor·ing.
  1. to pierce with or as if with a horn or tusk.
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Origin of gore2

1350–1400; Middle English goren; see gore3

gore3

[gawr, gohr]
noun
  1. a triangular piece of material inserted in a garment, sail, etc., to give it greater width or a desired shape.Compare godet(def 1), gusset(def 1).
  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, gor·ing.
  1. to make or furnish with a gore or gores.
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Origin of gore3

before 900; Middle English; Old English gāra corner (cognate with German Gehre gusset); compare Old English gār spear
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

lancegougespearwoundstabstickpunctureimpaleperforate

Examples from the Web for gored

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Her tender side is gored; her spotless and snowy coat is deformed with blood.

    Imogen

    William Godwin

  • I should just collapse at the bottom, and be gored to death, I know I should!

  • "I thought we were going to be gored to death," she quavered.

  • The tenant's ox was gored to death by a heifer belonging to the lawyer.

    The Proverbs of Scotland

    Alexander Hislop

  • The skirt should be so gored as to form no gathers or plaits at the waist.

British Dictionary definitions for gored

gore1

noun
  1. blood shed from a wound, esp when coagulated
  2. informal killing, fighting, etc
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Word Origin

Old English gor dirt; related to Old Norse gor half-digested food, Middle Low German göre, Dutch goor

gore2

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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Word Origin

C16: probably from Old English gār spear

gore3

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
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Derived Formsgored, adjective

Word Origin

Old English gāra; related to Old Norse geiri gore, Old High German gēro

Gore

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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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gored

gore

n.2

"triangular piece of ground," Old English gara, related to gar "spear" (see gar), on the notion of "triangularity." Hence also meanings "front of a skirt" (mid-13c.), and "triangular piece of cloth" (early 14c.).

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gore

n.1

Old English gor "dirt, dung, filth, shit," a Germanic word (cf. Middle Dutch goor "filth, mud;" Old Norse gor "cud;" Old High German gor "animal dung"), of uncertain origin. Sense of "clotted blood" (especially shed in battle) developed by 1560s.

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gore

v.

c.1400, from Scottish gorren "to pierce, stab," origin unknown, perhaps related to Old English gar "spear" (see gar, also gore (n.2) "triangular piece of ground"). Related: Gored; goring.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper