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gouge

[gouj]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gouge ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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

to engage in swindling, overcharging, or the like: I bought my clothes there before they began gouging.

RELATED WORDS

forger, rascal, thief, crook, cheater, counterfeiter, charlatan, clip, cheat, operator, sharp, grifter, sharper, chiseler, mountebank, scoundrel, rook, absconder, fraud, trickster

Origin of gouge

1300–50; Middle English < French < Late Latin gu(l)bia; compare Old Provençal goja, Spanish gubia; perhaps < Celtic; compare Old Irish gulba sting, Welsh gylf beak, Cornish gilb borer
Related formsgoug·er, nounun·gouged, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gouger

Historical Examples of gouger

  • If it was Mr. Gouger who had rejected his work, it was Mr. Gouger that he must see.

    A Black Adonis

    Linn Boyd Porter

  • "No," responded Mr. Gouger, disposing of that theory in one breath.

    A Black Adonis

    Linn Boyd Porter

  • Mr. Gouger's face bore its gentlest expression at that moment.

    A Black Adonis

    Linn Boyd Porter

  • Mr. Gouger pursed up his lips, and uttered an impatient, "Pah!"

    A Black Adonis

    Linn Boyd Porter

  • "You might at least have got an introduction for him," said Gouger, reflectively.

    A Black Adonis

    Linn Boyd Porter

British Dictionary definitions for gouger

gouger

noun

a person or tool that gouges
Irish dialect a low-class city lout

gouge

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
Word Origin and History for gouger

gouge

v.

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").

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for gouger

gouge

[gouj]

n.

A strong curved chisel used in bone surgery.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.