gouge
Americannoun
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a chisel having a partly cylindrical blade with the bevel on either the concave or the convex side.
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an act of gouging.
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a groove or hole made by gouging.
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an act or instance of extorting or overcharging; a swindle.
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the amount of money extorted or overcharged.
a gouge of $20 for shipping and delivery.
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Geology.
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a layer of decomposed rocks or minerals found along the walls of a vein.
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fragments of rock that have accumulated between or along the walls of a fault.
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verb (used with object)
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to scoop out or turn with or as if with a gouge.
to gouge a channel; to gouge holes.
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to dig or force out with or as if with a gouge.
to gouge out an eye.
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to make a gouge in.
to gouge one's leg.
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to extort from, overcharge, or swindle.
drug companies that gouge consumers and the government.
verb (used without object)
verb
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(usually foll by out) to scoop or force (something) out of its position, esp with the fingers or a pointed instrument
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(sometimes foll by out) to cut (a hole or groove) in (something) with a sharp instrument or tool
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informal to extort from
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(also intr) to dig for (opal)
noun
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a type of chisel with a blade that has a concavo-convex section
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a mark or groove made with, or as if with, a gouge
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geology a fine deposit of rock fragments, esp clay, occurring between the walls of a fault or mineral vein
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informal extortion; swindling
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gougesimple
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gougessimple
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have gougedperfect
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has gougedperfect
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am gougingprogressive
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are gougingprogressive
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is gougingprogressive
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have been gougingperfect progressive
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has been gougingperfect progressive
Past
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gougedsimple
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had gougedperfect
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was gougingprogressive
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were gougingprogressive
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had been gougingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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”
Explanation
To gouge can mean to make a hole or dent in something, or to swindle or steal by overcharging. If your local gas station raises prices because a storm is coming, you may say that the station owner is gouging you — and that's illegal. The verb gouge means to cut or carve. You can use special chisels to gouge linoleum for interesting design in printing. As a noun, a gouge is the tool you would use — instead of a flat-head chisel, a gouge has a trough — to make the gouge marks of the design. Another meaning of the verb gouge is an indentation in the surface of something. If you're not careful with the screwdriver, you'll accidentally gouge a hole in the wall.
Vocabulary lists containing gouge
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The government says authorities have carried out raids and taken action against hoarders and black marketeers who are exploiting shortages to price gouge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
Etzebeth later posted a video claiming his actions were a reaction to being struck by Mann and the gouge was not intentional.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
That doesn’t mean that the grocers can’t gouge shoppers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2024
Underwater footage appeared to show the plane partially afloat, with at least one wheel creating a gouge in the fragile coral.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2023
She was using both of them to gouge at the burned skillet with a wooden spatula of Nelson’s making.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
As Earth’s climate has warmed, glaciers have rapidly melted in high mountain ranges across the globe, and the resulting water accumulates in unstable gouges cut by the glaciers as they retreat.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 8, 2023
In some instances, it drizzles down the canvas in rivulets; in others it amasses in thick crusts into which Bradley gouges with a stick or a rake.
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
Investigators said they found scratches and gouges in a mainline valve seal in front of where the tool was, creating leak paths.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 27, 2022
But it also said: “Inside the Lincoln Chamber there are several scratches and gouges on the flooring. Photo documentation taken and referred to the park’s senior management.”
From Washington Post ● Aug. 13, 2022
Many are portrayed pierced with arrows, and gouges in the rock indicate cave-dwellers may have flung spears at the painted game.
From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell
Memory may be the new oil, but memory investors aren’t getting gouged at the pump yet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
She touted the low transport costs for spectators, the free fan festival and "that you're not going to be price gouged when it comes to hotels" as making Philadelphia the best value US venue.
From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026
Replacing the gouged front bumper was a $1,100 job and Mandell would’ve paid the first $500.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 23, 2025
Someone had gouged out the two S’s in a Cesar Chavez quote about “drawing the goodne...” out of students.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Many of the fair’s fifty-seven miles of roadway were still either submerged or coated with mud, and others had been gouged and trenched by vehicles that had used the roads while they were still sodden.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Apple is crying foul, arguing that Micron’s gross profit margins, now surpassing 80%, are evidence of price gouging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Hydee Feldstein Soto sued rental giant Airbnb for alleged price gouging last summer in the wake of the devastating Palisades fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
The industry has denied price gouging, arguing it was a classic case of supply and demand, where limited supply and high demand lead to higher prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Nevertheless, many believed the situation was an excuse to engage price gouging.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
She twisted ’round to watch the sled continue down the narrow road they had just traveled, gouging a fresh set of tracks in the mud.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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.
