gouge

[gouj]

noun

1. a chisel having a partly cylindrical blade with the bevel on either the concave or the convex side.

2. an act of gouging.

3. a groove or hole made by gouging.

4. 1. an act or instance of extorting or overcharging; a swindle.

   2. the amount of money extorted or overcharged.

      a gouge of $20 for shipping and delivery.

5. Geology.

   1. a layer of decomposed rocks or minerals found along the walls of a vein.

   2. fragments of rock that have accumulated between or along the walls of a fault.

verb (used with object)

gouged, gouging 

1. to scoop out or turn with or as if with a gouge.

   to gouge a channel; to gouge holes.

2. to dig or force out with or as if with a gouge.

   to gouge out an eye.

3. to make a gouge in.

   to gouge one's leg.

4. to extort from, overcharge, or swindle.

   drug companies that gouge consumers and the government.

verb (used without object)

gouged, gouging 

1. to engage in extortion, overcharging, or swindling.

   I bought a lot of my clothes there before they began gouging.

gouge

/ ɡaʊdʒ /

verb

1. (usually foll by out) to scoop or force (something) out of its position, esp with the fingers or a pointed instrument

2. (sometimes foll by out) to cut (a hole or groove) in (something) with a sharp instrument or tool

3. informal,  to extort from

4. (also intr) to dig for (opal)

noun

1. a type of chisel with a blade that has a concavo-convex section

2. a mark or groove made with, or as if with, a gouge

3. geology a fine deposit of rock fragments, esp clay, occurring between the walls of a fault or mineral vein

4. informal,  extortion; swindling

Other Word Forms

• gouger noun
• ungouged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of gouge¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from French, from Late Latin gu(l)bia; compare Old Provençal goja, Spanish gubia; perhaps from Celtic; compare Old Irish gulba “sting,” Welsh gylf “beak,” Cornish gilb “borer”

Word History and Origins

Origin of gouge¹

C15: from French, from Late Latin gulbia a chisel, of Celtic origin

Example Sentences

One senior executive in the credit-reporting industry told Lansing that his company’s price hikes practices amount to price gouging.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The commerce ministry also has warned businesses against price gouging and set up a hotline for complaints.

Read more on Barron's

"These are consolidated markets gouging ranchers and gouging consumers at the store," said Austin Frerick, an agricultural and antitrust policy expert and a fellow at Yale University.

Read more on BBC

At the state level, progressives like Wisconsin governor Robert La Follette battled the railroad monopolies that gouged farmers desperate to get their crops to market.

Read more on Salon

In the 1970s, Black Sabbath prioritized gouging grooves, thrumming basslines and ponderous drums; they treated their albums like cohesive sonic statements.

Read more on Salon