goose

plural geese

1. countableuncountableAny of various grazing waterfowl of the family Anatidae, which have feathers and webbed feet and are capable of flying, swimming, and walking on land, and which are generally bigger than ducks.

   There is a flock of geese on the pond.

   2 more examples

   The goose, reputed to possess high generative power, was sacred to Priapus.

   1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 198

   A group of geese is called a gaggle.

   2019 June 6, “A gaggle, a confusion and a conspiracy - bizarre animal collective group names”, in BBC

2. countableuncountablestrictlyA female goose.

   1 more example

   Ganders and geese are at their best for stock from two to ten years old. They live to a great age—it is stated to thirty or more years—but after ten years they cannot be reckoned upon as reliable assets on a farm. Two years old is the best age to mate them, making up pens of a gander and two or three geese at the New Year. It is difficult sometimes to distinguish ganders from geese. A practical man is, however, rarely mistaken.

   1902, Lewis Wright, “Geese and Swans”, in The New Book of Poultry […], London; […]: Cassell and Company, Limited, page 560, column 1

3. uncountableThe flesh of the goose used as food.

   1 more example

   Mrs. Cratchit made the gravy (ready beforehand in a little saucepan) hissing hot; Master Peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigour; Miss Belinda sweetened up the apple-sauce; Martha dusted the hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim beside him in a tiny corner at the table; the two young Cratchits set chairs for everybody, not forgetting themselves, and mounting guard upon their posts, crammed spoons into their mouths, lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be helped.

   1843, Charles Dickens, “Stave 3: The Second of the Three Spirits”, in A Christmas Carol

4. countableslanguncountableplural geese or goosesA silly person.

   I'm sorry for you, but you're such a goose.

   1906, Langdon Mitchell, “The New York Idea”, in John Gassner, editor, Best Plays of the Early American Theatre, 1787-1911, published 2000, →ISBN, page 430

   3 more examples

   Have you stopped to think, you gooses, that Andy might not wish you to give it away?

   1994, Barbara Benedict, Love and Honor, New York, N.Y.: Jove Books, →ISBN, page 65

   You gooses. I didn’t accept his proposal. Mrs Plackett did. She did because she would. Don’t you see?

   2014, Julie Berry, The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, New York, N.Y.: Roaring Brook Press, Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership, →ISBN

   Surely I needn’t explain to you gooses that none of you, not even you, Caro, have the sort of dowry or connections or the appeal that such a match would require.

   2019, Julia London, The Princess Plan, HQN Books, →ISBN

5. archaiccountableuncountableA tailor's iron, heated in live coals or embers, used to press fabrics.

   Come in, tailor. Here you may roast your goose.

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]

   Synonyms: goose iron

6. South AfricacountabledatedslanguncountableA young woman or girlfriend.
7. historicaluncountableAn old English board game in which players moved counters along a board, earning a double move when they reached the picture of a goose.

present singular third person gooses · participle present goosing · participle past goosed · past goosed

1. slangtransitiveTo sharply poke or pinch the buttocks, or prod between the buttocks (of a person).

   Here are the three strange men have exposed themselves to me, the two obscene phone callers, the time I was goosed by an employer.

   1991 August 24, Artemis OakGrove, “I Deserve A Medal”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 6, page 5

   2 more examples

   She greeted Miss Lonelyhearts, then took hold of her husband and shook the breath out of him. When he was quiet, she dragged him into their apartment. Miss Lonelyhearts followed and as he passed her in the dark foyer, she goosed him and laughed.

   1933, Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts

   The witness stand. Goldminers giving evidence, sure he's violent didn't I see him with my own peepers chasing those poor kids up on the roof and he goosed my wife last Christmas. Violently. Just a forceful nudge of the knee.

   1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 36

2. slangtransitiveTo stimulate; to spur.

   In some ways, Joe Biden’s administration goosed the cycle. His administration expanded industrial policy through semiconductor and clean-energy subsidies, […].

   2026 April 20, Amit Seru, “The Economic Cost of Donald Trump’s Constant Chaos”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   2 more examples

   Almost everyone in McKay’s impossibly starry cast feels like they’re jumping into the SNL host role, game for some light comedic lifting while waiting for the pros to show up and goose the laughs.

   2021 December 7, Jesse Hassenger, “Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence cope with disaster in the despairing satire Don’t Look Up”, in AV Club

   The ensuing snarknado also seemed to goose the TV ratings. Hundreds of thousands of viewers switched on the movie after it began, suggesting that they’d gotten wind through Twitter of the bananas spectacle that was unfolding.

   2023 July 10, James Poniewozik, “The Twitter Watch Party Is Over”, in The New York Times

3. slangtransitiveTo gently accelerate (a vehicle); to give repeated, small taps on the accelerator of (a vehicle); to feather the throttle of (a vehicle).
4. UKslangOf private-hire taxi drivers, to pick up a passenger who has not booked a cab, in violation of UK licensing conditions.
5. slangtransitiveTo hiss (a performer) off the stage.

1. A surname.