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 of extortion; swindle.
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, swindle, or overcharge.
verb (used without object),gouged,goug·ing.
to engage in swindling, overcharging, or the like: I bought my clothes there before they began gouging.
Origin of gouge
1300–50;Middle English < French < Late Latingu(l)bia; compare Old Provençalgoja,Spanishgubia; perhaps < Celtic; compare Old Irishgulba sting, Welshgylf beak, Cornishgilb borer
1560s, "to cut with a gouge," from gouge (n.). Meaning "to force out with a gouge" (especially of the eyes, in fighting) attested by 1800. Meaning "swindle" is American English colloquial from 1826 (implied in plural noun gougers). Related: Gouged; gouging.
gouge
n.
mid-14c., "chisel with a concave blade," from Old French gouge, from Late Latin gubia, alteration of gulbia "hollow beveled chisel," probably from Gaulish (cf. Old Irish gulban "prick, prickle," Welsh gylfin "beak").
