gouge

[ gouj ]

/ gaʊdʒ /

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See synonyms for: gouge / gouged / gouging / gouger on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

an act of gouging.

a groove or hole made by gouging.

an act or instance of extorting or overcharging; a swindle.
the amount of money extorted or overcharged:a gouge of $20 for shipping and delivery.

Geology.

a layer of decomposed rocks or minerals found along the walls of a vein.
fragments of rock that have accumulated between or along the walls of a fault.

verb (used with object), gouged, goug·ing.

to scoop out or turn with or as if with a gouge: to gouge a channel; to gouge holes.

to dig or force out with or as if with a gouge: to gouge out an eye.

to make a gouge in: to gouge one's leg.

to extort from, overcharge, or swindle: drug companies that gouge consumers and the government.

verb (used without object), gouged, goug·ing.

to engage in extortion, overcharging, or swindling: I bought a lot of my clothes there before they began gouging.

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Origin of gouge

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”

OTHER WORDS FROM gouge

goug·er, nounun·gouged, adjective

Words nearby gouge

Götz, Götz von Berlichingen, gouache, Gouda, Goudy, gouge, gouger, goujon, goulash, Gould, Gouldian finch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use gouge in a sentence

Fortunately, removing those gouges and restoring the wood’s original luster is a fast, easy project that anyone can handle.
Get your scratched wooden cutting board looking bright and new|Jean Levasseur|January 7, 2022|Popular-Science
The Obama administration has not put forward any plan that will outright gouge more than $700 billion from Medicare.
3 Beefs With Mitt Romney’s Convention Speech|Matthew DeLuca|August 31, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The spine of the Appalachian Mountains is being obliterated to gouge out the seams of black coal.
Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco Chronicle Mining Catastrophes in West Virginia|Chris Hedges, Joe Sacco|June 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
At court, Poggio once got into a brawl with a rival official and tried to gouge out his eyes.
The Book That Changed the World|Jimmy So|October 7, 2011|DAILY BEAST

I had four and a half rows to trim, and then the whole orchard to go over with paint pot and gouge and cement.
The Idyl of Twin Fires|Walter Prichard Eaton
But he finished the task at last and began to gouge a channel in the planking close to the other ribs.
Blow The Man Down|Holman Day
It was as though a giant had taken a gouge and cut a bay right through the sea cliffs.
The Beach of Dreams|H. De Vere Stacpoole
A small gouge would assist the penknife, and render the operation less difficult.
Wanderings in South America|Charles Waterton
He was honest enough still for that, though he had not the courage to admit how deep a gouge the luncheon made in his savings.
What Will People Say?|Rupert Hughes

British Dictionary definitions for gouge

gouge

/ (ɡaʊdʒ) /

verb (mainly tr)

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

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

US and Canadian informal to extort from

(also intr) Australian to dig for (opal)

noun

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

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

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

US and Canadian informal extortion; swindling

Word Origin for gouge

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

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

gouge

Origin of gouge

OTHER WORDS FROM gouge

Words nearby gouge

Words related to gouge

How to use gouge in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for gouge

Word Origin for gouge