gouge
1 of 2noun
ˈgau̇j 
1
: a chisel with a concavo-convex cross section
2
a
: the act of gouging
b
: a groove or cavity scooped out
3
: an excessive or improper charge for something : extortion
gouge
2 of 2verb
gouged; gouging
transitive verb
1
: to scoop out with or as if with a gouge (see gouge entry 1 sense 1)
2
a
: to force out (an eye) with the thumb
b
: to thrust the thumb into the eye of
3
: to make (someone) pay too much for something : overcharge
gouger noun
Synonyms
Verb
- overcharge
- soak
- sting
- surcharge
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun The accident left a big gouge in the side of the car. Verb The lamp fell and gouged the table. A bomb had gouged a large crater in the street. They feel that they are being gouged by the oil companies.
Recent Examples on the Web
Will Taylor, Outside Online, 12 Aug. 2022 Cord cutting carved another gouge in the legacy TV business in the first quarter of 2022, with 1.95 million people heading for the exits among the top providers. Rob Pegoraro, PCMAG, 18 May 2022 President Joe Biden is also calling on state attorneys general to hold companies that price gouge accountable. Byrick Klein,averi Harper, ABC News, 13 May 2022 Garamendi also talks about Vladimir Putin's similarities to Adolf Hitler, how oil companies are using the crisis as cover to gouge prices, and how Americans should be willing to sacrifice for democracy by paying higher prices at the pump. Fifth & Mission Podcast, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 Mar. 2022 The shopping experience is simple and straightforward, and unlike other online marketplaces, Granted doesn’t price-gouge. Spin Contributor, SPIN, 8 Mar. 2022 Nineteen weeks later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, headed to Kenya, also crashed, leaving a deep gouge in a field near the Addis Abba Bole Airport. Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 26 Jan. 2022 Critics say the companies — as well as their main competitor, GTL — are exploitative middlemen that price-gouge inmates and their families. Tana Ganeva, Rolling Stone, 8 Nov. 2021 The car’s antenna was hit, damaging the vehicle’s electrical system, and left a 7-foot long gouge in the pavement, FHP reported. Joe Mario Pedersen, orlandosentinel.com, 15 June 2021 Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2022 The cougar bit the dog's head and wouldn't let go, even when Wilson attacked the animal with rocks, sticks and her fists and tried to choke it and gouge its eyes. CBS News, 18 May 2022 Black continued to gouge at Powell's eyes once on the ground, Powell wrote. Teresa Moss, Arkansas Online, 9 June 2022 Retail sellers have not been responsible for price spikes generally and did not gouge, Tong said. Stephen Singer, Hartford Courant, 5 June 2022 Michael Bluth never shot anybody or watched a Mexican drug lord gouge out the eyes of a man who betrayed him. Washington Post, 29 Apr. 2022 For hikers who intend to press ahead, Magee has kept his prices on food, fuel, and booze stable, refusing to gouge them with convenience fees. Outside Online, 7 May 2020 The fragility of these rock layers allowed the floods to gouge out channels and canyons in a way that harder rocks would have been more resistant to. Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Apr. 2022 Tencent Music was hit mid-2021 by Chinese regulators who stripped the company of its exclusive supply contracts with big music labels and ended its ability to gouge sub-licensees. Patrick Frater, Variety, 22 Mar. 2022 See More
Noun
The sight of that gouge haunted me throughout my childhood, a kind of cautionary specter warning me to avoid the least bit of UV exposure. Will Taylor, Outside Online, 12 Aug. 2022 Cord cutting carved another gouge in the legacy TV business in the first quarter of 2022, with 1.95 million people heading for the exits among the top providers. Rob Pegoraro, PCMAG, 18 May 2022 President Joe Biden is also calling on state attorneys general to hold companies that price gouge accountable. Byrick Klein,averi Harper, ABC News, 13 May 2022 Garamendi also talks about Vladimir Putin's similarities to Adolf Hitler, how oil companies are using the crisis as cover to gouge prices, and how Americans should be willing to sacrifice for democracy by paying higher prices at the pump. Fifth & Mission Podcast, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 Mar. 2022 The shopping experience is simple and straightforward, and unlike other online marketplaces, Granted doesn’t price-gouge. Spin Contributor, SPIN, 8 Mar. 2022 Nineteen weeks later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, headed to Kenya, also crashed, leaving a deep gouge in a field near the Addis Abba Bole Airport. Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 26 Jan. 2022 Critics say the companies — as well as their main competitor, GTL — are exploitative middlemen that price-gouge inmates and their families. Tana Ganeva, Rolling Stone, 8 Nov. 2021 The car’s antenna was hit, damaging the vehicle’s electrical system, and left a 7-foot long gouge in the pavement, FHP reported. Joe Mario Pedersen, orlandosentinel.com, 15 June 2021 Verb
Trees too close to your roof can scratch and gouge the roof. Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2022 The cougar bit the dog's head and wouldn't let go, even when Wilson attacked the animal with rocks, sticks and her fists and tried to choke it and gouge its eyes. CBS News, 18 May 2022 Black continued to gouge at Powell's eyes once on the ground, Powell wrote. Teresa Moss, Arkansas Online, 9 June 2022 Retail sellers have not been responsible for price spikes generally and did not gouge, Tong said. Stephen Singer, Hartford Courant, 5 June 2022 Michael Bluth never shot anybody or watched a Mexican drug lord gouge out the eyes of a man who betrayed him. Washington Post, 29 Apr. 2022 For hikers who intend to press ahead, Magee has kept his prices on food, fuel, and booze stable, refusing to gouge them with convenience fees. Outside Online, 7 May 2020 The fragility of these rock layers allowed the floods to gouge out channels and canyons in a way that harder rocks would have been more resistant to. Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Apr. 2022 Tencent Music was hit mid-2021 by Chinese regulators who stripped the company of its exclusive supply contracts with big music labels and ended its ability to gouge sub-licensees. Patrick Frater, Variety, 22 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Middle English gowge, from Middle French gouge, from Late Latin gulbia
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing gouge
Kids Definition
gouge 1 of 2
noun
ˈgau̇j
1
: a chisel with a curved blade for scooping or cutting holes
2
: a hole or groove made by cutting or scraping
gouge
2 of 2verb
gouged; gouging
: to make a hole or groove in something by cutting or scraping
Medical Definition
gouge
noun
ˈgau̇j
: a chisel with a concavo-convex cross section for removing portions of bone in surgery
gouge 1 of 2
verb
as in to overcharge
to charge (someone) too much for goods or services since I had forgotten the sunscreen, I was forced to buy it from the concession stand at the beach—where they gouged me for it Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- overcharge
- sting
- surcharge
- cheat
- defraud
- soak
- stick
- fleece
- skin
- clip
- mischarge
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- undercharge
gouge
2 of 2noun
as in hollow
Synonyms & Similar Words
- hollow
- rip
- stab
- puncture
- tear
- groove
- punch
- slash
- gash
- slit
- perforation
- prick
- cut
- laceration
- pinprick
- rupture
- pinhole
- rent
- incision
- notch
- break