an acute, recurrent disease characterized by painful inflammation of the joints, chiefly those in the feet and hands, and especially in the great toe, and by an excess of uric acid in the blood.
a mass or splash, as of blood; spurt.
a metabolic disease characterized by painful inflammation of certain joints, esp of the big toe and foot, caused by deposits of sodium urate in them
archaic a drop or splash, esp of blood
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English goute, from Old French, from Latin gutta “a drop (of fluid)”; gout in the feet formerly was attributed to drops of a corrupted humor
Gout is a painful illness that causes hot, red, swollen joints. Once known as a disease of the wealthy and gluttonous, gout can be exacerbated by eating rich, fatty foods. Gout sounds like an old-fashioned condition, and it is often associated with famous historical figures who suffered from it, like King Henry VIII and Alexander the Great. However, it's fairly common today, possibly due to high-fat diets and longer life expectancies. The word gout comes from a Latin root gutta, or "drop," from the ancient belief that it was caused by drops of "humors" spilling into the joints from the blood.
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While partying with the French isn’t the same as surviving the winter at Valley Forge, it did take a toll on Franklin, who suffered excruciating pain from gout.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Their research showed that probenecid alters how kidney cells handle urate, a molecule most commonly associated with gout.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026
The Welshman struggled with gout in his ankle all night in Nottingham, but while his walking was hampered his throw certainly was not.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026
Crystalys, which is developing a treatment for gout, found replacements and disclosed a $205 million Series A round in September.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
They stumbled over the frozen ground, Hunt wincing from gout, cursing, disbelieving; Olmsted, his teeth inflamed, his night an ordeal of wakefulness, limping from his long-ago carriage accident.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
It originally played around with the French word goût – meaning taste – before it realised people might think it was called gout, after the disease.
From The Guardian ● May 27, 2013
After all, food and drink involve an element of personal taste—chacun à son goût, as the French say—and the greatest beer for you isn’t necessarily the greatest beer for me.
From Slate ● May 16, 2012
And le goût du wok returned in a dish of al dente black rice stir-fried with spinach, spinach shoots and green onions.
From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2010
As circumstances had ofttimes compelled the ex-Ranger to eat his deer-meat underdone, the habit had become his goût; and it was, therefore, not long before the griskin was removed from the spit.
From The Lone Ranche by Reid, Mayne
Obs.—We like a little lemon-peel with eschalot; the haut goût of the latter is much ameliorated by the delicate aroma of the former.
From The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual by Kitchiner, William
Occasionally, its operators revved its engine until the tires burned out, which sent gouts of flame and plumes of foul white smoke into the scorching air to block our view of the Washington Monument.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
Outside St. James Cathedral, rain came down in gouts, spilling down the front steps and inside the vaulted sanctuary.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 23, 2021
Forests fell to the mills that provided the first burst of manufacturing wealth in the 18th century and that produced gaping tracts that poured great gouts of mud into the river.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2019
Up close you see that the smudges are clusters of toy figures — tipped-over carts, fallen horses soldiers — stuck to the canvas surface with engulfing gouts of pigment.
From New York Times ● Sep. 27, 2018
We lay there like two giggling children while below us the great beast grunted and snuffed around our fire, occasionally sending up gouts of flame.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
