gush
Americanverb (used without object)
-
gushes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gushed,
past participle, past
-
gushing
present participle
-
to flow out or issue suddenly, copiously, or forcibly, as a fluid from confinement.
Water gushed from the broken pipe.
-
to express oneself extravagantly or emotionally; talk effusively.
She gushed with pride over her new grandchild.
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to have a sudden, copious flow, as of blood or tears.
verb (used with object)
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gushes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gushed,
past participle, past
-
gushing
present participle
noun
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gushes
plural
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a sudden, copious outflow of a fluid.
-
the fluid emitted.
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effusive and often insincere language or behavior.
verb
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to pour out or cause to pour out suddenly and profusely, usually with a rushing sound
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to act or utter in an overeffusive, affected, or sentimental manner
noun
-
a sudden copious flow or emission, esp of liquid
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something that flows out or is emitted
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an extravagant and insincere expression of admiration, sentiment, etc
Usage
What does gush mean? To gush is to flow forcefully and rapidly. Water gushes out of a firehose. Gush can also be used as a noun referring to such a flow. Gush also commonly means to talk about a particular thing in an emotional, enthusiastic, unreserved way. When used this way, it is often phrased as gush about or gush over. Example: I’m sorry to keep gushing about my baby cousin, but she’s just so adorable!
Synonym Usage
See flow.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gushsimple
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gushessimple
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have gushedperfect
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has gushedperfect
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am gushingprogressive
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are gushingprogressive
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is gushingprogressive
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have been gushingperfect progressive
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has been gushingperfect progressive
Past
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gushedsimple
-
had gushedperfect
-
was gushingprogressive
-
were gushingprogressive
-
had been gushingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gush
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; probably of expressive origin; see gust 1, rush 1
Explanation
On hot summer days, city kids will sometimes open a fire hydrant and let the water gush into the street. Things that gush come streaming out. Water can gush out of a hose or a drinking fountain, and you can also call the jet of water itself a gush. A more figurative way to gush is to talk enthusiastically about something — you might gush when you're describing your favorite teacher. Gush comes from the twelfth century English word gosshien, originally "make noises in the stomach," and later "pour out." Gush is an onomatopoeic word — it sounds like what it means.
Vocabulary lists containing gush
Instead of "Said": Words for Upbeat Banter
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Charlotte's Web
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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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:
Lee Ratcliffe, head teacher at Calderstones School in Liverpool, says he felt a "gush of pride" at seeing the teenage friends triumph in the BBC series' finale this week.
From BBC ● May 24, 2026
But when two of her Calvin Klein coworkers gush, “You’re going to be the American people’s princess!” my inner narrator countered, “No. Not so much.”
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026
The agent took the opportunity to gush about ICE’s new state-of-the-art semi-automatic tasers and brand-new pepper-ball guns.
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026
He tried to fix it, which caused foam to gush from one barrel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
Not long after I’d started dating Barack, I called Suzanne to gush about my feelings for him.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
On and around the dry lake bed, water gushes from wells into ditches to fields of tomatoes, cotton, almonds, grapes and other crops.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
“I’ve basically modeled my whole look and style after you,” Carpenter gushes when she and Piggy finally meet in the recent special.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
Due to the water’s high mineral content, the fall’s boulders have developed a spongy texture that allows you to climb barefoot while water gushes over your feet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026
Maam Essan, a 23-year-old Parisian, gushes at the sight of Mona Kattan, the sister of beauty mogul Huda Kattan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
“You two look adorable,” he gushes as he reaches to scan the tags on our sleeves.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
“If you’re looking for the chicest way to travel, this is it,” an Atlanta-based real estate advisor gushed in an Instagram video that appears to have been filmed at the Atlanta terminal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
For years, Meta had little need to borrow, thanks to a highly profitable advertising business that gushed cash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
“Americans are falling in love with Vietnam and its dual communist–capitalist system of government and economics,” some guy in Hanoi could have said after I gushed to him about how much fun I was having.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Ryan previously gushed about her love for renovation projects while speaking with Architectural Digest.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
“They only have one left!” he gushed, tearing off the cellophane shrink-wrap and prying open the lid.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
His face was wet and gushing with joy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
His gushing about being another Napoleon allows me to note that a couple of years ago I suggested the only way to handle Donald Trump was to exile him to a nice island somewhere.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
Although specific details about both the Zvernec and Sazan plans remain unclear, gushing descriptions from Ivanka Trump and renderings of the proposed resort posted by Kushner have been circulating for years.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
But Baker couldn’t help gushing about Musk for long, pointing out that after the compute deals with Google and Anthropic, SpaceX went from 100 times trailing revenue to 39.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 12, 2026
I worked mightily to think about anything other than Jeffrey’s gushing nose, but the distractions were truly pointless.
From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick
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.
