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gouge

gouge

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gouge    Audio Help   (gouj)   

n.  

  1. A chisel with a rounded, troughlike blade.

    1. A scooping or digging action, as with such a chisel.

    2. A groove or hole scooped with or as if with such a chisel.

  3. Informal A large amount, as of money, exacted or extorted.

tr.v.   gouged, goug·ing, goug·es

  1. To cut or scoop out with or as if with a gouge: "He began to gouge a small pattern in the sand with his cane" (Vladimir Nabokov).

    1. To force out the eye of (a person) with one's thumb.

    2. To thrust one's thumb into the eye of.

  3. Informal To extort from.

  4. Slang To swindle.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin gubia, variant of gulbia, of Celtic origin.]
goug'er n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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