gouge
gouge
Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling and Syllable Breakdown
The IPA phonetic spelling for the English word gouge is /gaʊdʒ/.
This word is a single-syllable term, so the breakdown is as follows:
Syllable 1: /gaʊdʒ/
g - voiced velar stop
aʊ - diphthong (as in how)
dʒ - voiced post-alveolar affricate (as in judge)
Word Form Variations
The word gouge has the following common word form variations:
Singular Noun: gouge (a groove, hole, or tool)
Plural Noun: gouges (multiple grooves, holes, or tools)
Base Verb (Infinitive): to gouge (to scoop out, force out, or overcharge)
Present Participle / Gerund: gouging (the action of scooping out/overcharging; the act itself)
Simple Present (Third-Person Singular): gouges (he/she/it gouges)
Simple Past / Past Participle: gouged (scooped out, overcharged)
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Noun
A curved, chisel-like tool used for cutting grooves, channels, or similar indentations in wood or other materials, typically with a concave blade.
Synonyms: chisel, cutter, scoop, carver
Antonyms: smoother, leveler, polisher (as a tool that removes marks)
A rough, deep indentation, groove, or hole made by a sharp object or by a forceful scraping action.
Synonyms: scratch, dent, score, furrow, scrape, hole
Antonyms: bump, mound, swell, elevation
Verb
To scoop out or cut a deep groove or hole with a specialized tool or sharp object, often resulting in damage.
Synonyms: chisel, carve, bore, excavate, score
Antonyms: fill, smooth, mend, repair
To force or thrust something out, especially an eye, with the thumb or a sharp instrument.
Synonyms: poke, prod, jab, stab
Antonyms: protect, shield, guard
To overcharge or swindle someone for goods or services, typically to an exorbitant degree, taking advantage of a captive market or necessity.
Synonyms: exploit, extort, fleece, overcharge, bilk
Antonyms: undercharge, discount, reduce, bargain
Examples of Use
As a Verb (To overcharge or exploit)
Newspaper/Online Publication:
"The state Attorney General filed suit against a chain of gas stations, alleging they attempted to gouge consumers by raising prices more than 50% in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane." (Source: The New York Times, October 2022)
"Critics of the pharmaceutical industry argue that it frequently attempts to gouge Medicare, forcing taxpayers to subsidize wildly expensive drugs that have already recouped their development costs."
Public Discourse/General Use:
Following the concert's ticket sales, many fans complained online that resellers were using bots and unfair practices to gouge them for seats.
As a Verb (To cut, carve, or scoop out)
Book (Fiction):
The old sailor used his knife to slowly gouge a small piece of scrimshaw from the whalebone, a tradition passed down for generations.
Entertainment/Online Publication (Gaming/Review):
"The combat system allows a player to execute a critical strike that can gouge a chunk of armor off the enemy's tough hide, exposing a weak point."
General Public Discourse:
"We had to call the tree service because the heavy branch fell and gouged a deep scar into the side of the newly paved driveway."
As a Noun (A tool or an indentation)
Newspaper/Online Publication (Arts & Crafts):
"The woodworker prefers a deep, U-shaped gouge for creating the initial, rough curves on a chair leg." (Source: Fine Woodworking Magazine, April 2023)
Public Discourse/General Use:
"Be careful moving that antique trunk; one wrong bump and it'll leave a terrible gouge in the hardwood floor."
Book (Non-fiction/History):
Archeologists uncovered the site and noted a series of parallel gouges in the stone, suggesting the movement of a glacier many millennia ago.
10 Famous Quotes Using Gouge
“In the ring, our opponents can gouge us with their nails or butt us with their heads and leave a bruise, but we don't denounce them for it or get upset with them.” (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations)
"The line of words is a miner's pick, a wood carver's gouge, a surgeon's probe." (Annie Dillard, The Writing Life)
"All I can say is that we are mistaken to gouge such a deep rift in history that the things old men and old women know have become so useless as to be not worth passing on to grandchildren.” (Charles Frazier, 1Cold Mountain)
“I would advise you when You do fight Not to act like Tygers and Bears as these Virginians do - Biting one anothers Lips and Noses off, and gowging one another - that is, thrusting out one anothers Eyes.” (Charles Woodmason, Journal of Reverend Charles Woodmason, 1768)
“The more purely God’s word is preached, the more deeply it pierces and the more kindly it works, or, on the other side, wound and beat down.” (William Gouge, A Commentary on the Whole Epistle to the Hebrews)
"By pointing the grain in the same direction, the plane won't gouge the wood." (Popular Mechanics Magazine, May 2021)
"To the left of the falls, gouged halfway up the cliff face, was a cave." (Peter Heller, Condé Nast Traveler, January 2024)
"They feel that they are being gouged by the oil companies." (Merriam-Webster Examples)
"The Alnic's prow gouged a 28-foot-wide hole into two sleeping quarters, known as Berthing 3 and Berthing 5." (T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, December 2019)
"If you see price gouging on Amazon, simply leave a bad product review for price gouging." (Reddit User/Commenter on r/lifehacks)
Etymology
The word gouge is relatively straightforward in its origin, having evolved directly from the tool itself.
In easy to understand words:
The word gouge comes to us from Old French. The original word was gouge (or sometimes goje), and it was used to mean a specific kind of chisel—a round-ended or hollow chisel used for carving wood.
Think of the word's history as a three-step progression:
The Tool (Old French): The word first appeared in English around the late 14th century specifically to name that carving tool with the curved blade. This is the first known use and meaning in English.
The Mark (English Noun): Because the tool gouge was used to make deep, curved cuts, the word soon became a noun for the mark or hole that the tool left behind (a deep scratch or furrow).
The Action (English Verb): Finally, by the 16th century, the noun became a verb meaning "to cut with a gouge." Much later, in the 19th century, this verb broadened metaphorically to mean to violently force or thrust out (like gouging an eye), and eventually, to exploit or overcharge someone, drawing on the idea of unjustly digging out money from a person.
In essence, the word's history traces a single tool from France that came to England, was adopted as the name for the tool, then the mark it made, and finally, the aggressive action of making that mark or taking something by force.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Gouge
Here is a list of phrases and common uses, supplemented with lesser-known/original phrases and idioms using synonyms to capture the word's primary sense of forceful damage or unfair cost.
I. Phrases related to Forceful Damage or Cutting (Literal/Figurative)
To gouge out an eye: A literal and common expression used to describe the violent act of forcing an eye out of its socket.
Gouge a path: An original but clear phrase meaning to forcefully and laboriously cut a track or route, often through tough terrain or material.
Gouge a hole in: A common, descriptive phrase referring to the creation of a deep, rough indentation in a surface (e.g., The fallen timber gouged a hole in the side of the deck).
To scratch and gouge: A near-idiomatic pairing describing two related forms of rough, damaging abrasion or marking.
To bore a groove: A synonym-based phrase used to describe the action of making a long, deep cut (similar to using a gouge tool).
II. Phrases related to Unfair Cost or Exploitation (Financial)
Price gouging: The most common fixed phrase using the word, referring to the practice of raising prices to excessive levels, often during an emergency or crisis.
To gouge the customer: A clear, common verbal phrase meaning to grossly overcharge a consumer.
To fleece the flock: A fixed idiom using a synonym (fleece) that captures the same meaning as "to gouge," referring to cheating or extorting money from an easy target.
To pick someone's pockets: A fixed idiom that means to subtly or aggressively take money, similar to financial gouging.
A financial gouge: An original but easily understood phrase used to describe an instance of extreme or unfair taxation, fee, or pricing.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of gouge from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
