gorge

plural gorges

1. archaicThe front aspect of the neck; the outside of the throat.

   His gall did grate for griefe and high diſdaine, And knitting all his force got one hand free, Wherewith he grypt her gorge with ſo great paine, That ſoone to looſe her wicked bands did her co[n]ſtraine.

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 19, page 9

2. archaicliteraryThe inside of the throat; the esophagus, the gullet; (falconry, specifically) the crop or gizzard of a hawk.

   Gleam, a term uſed after a hawk hath caſt and gleameth, or throweth up filth from her gorge.

   1800, “Gleam”, in The Sportsman’s Dictionary; or, The Gentleman’s Companion: For Town and Country. […], 4th edition, London: printed for G. G. and J. Robinson, […]; by R. Noble, […], →OCLC, column 1

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   I wil tel you, Scholer, that unleſs the hook be faſt in his [the trout's] very Gorge, he wil live, and a little time with the help of the water, wil ruſt the hook, & it wil in time wear away as the gravel does in the horſe hoof, which only leaves a falſe quarter.

   1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter IV, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN, page 124

   Then as it [a giant serpent] opened its gorge with a gasp, Darra his son made a running bound, And keeping his sharp skian firm in his grasp, Dived headlong into its throat profound.

   1868 February 29, “Snorro” [pseudonym], “The Fenian Chase of Lough Derg”, in The Shamrock: A National Weekly Journal of Irish History, Literature, Arts, &c., volume III, number 74, Dublin: Printed and published at the office, 33, Lower Abbey-Street, →OCLC, page 354, column 2

3. biologyThe throat of a flower.
4. Food that has been taken into the gullet or the stomach, particularly if it is regurgitated or vomited out.

   My gorge rises at the sight of it.

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   And like a Crane his [Gluttony's] necke was long and fyne, With which he ſwallow'd vp exceſſive feaſt, For want whereof poore people oft did pyne, And all the way, moſt like a brutiſh beaſt, He ſpued vp his gorge, that all did him deteaſt.

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 21, page 51

   Alas poore Yoricke, I knew him Horatio, a fellow of infinite ieſt, of moſt excellent fancie, hee hath bore me on his backe a thouſand times, and now how how abhorred in my imagination it is: my gorge riſes at it.

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]

   Now her worries about Charles Wallace and her disappointment in her father’s human fallibility rose like gorge in her throat.

   1962, Madeleine L’Engle, “Aunt Beast”, in A Wrinkle in Time, New York, N.Y.: Ariel Books, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Ariel Books, 1973 printing, →ISBN, pages 187–188

   So Lyra clung to Pantalaimon and her head swam and her gorge rose, and cold as the night was, a sickly sweat moistened her flesh with something colder still.

   1996 April, Philip Pullman, “Fencing”, in The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials; 1), 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN; trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014, →ISBN, page 214

5. USA choking or filling of a channel or passage by an obstruction; the obstruction itself.

   an ice gorge in a river

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   An ice gorge had formed in the bed of the river at the head of the island and from bank to bank logs, driftwood, broken ice and giant floes were packed and jammed so tightly as to resist the action of the mighty current.

   1903, Zane Grey, chapter VII, in Betty Zane, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC, page 133

6. architectureA concave moulding; a cavetto.

   GORGE, Gula, in architecture, the narroweſt part of Tuſcan and Doric capitals, lying between the aſtragal, above the ſhaft of the pillar and the annulets. […] It is alſo uſed for a concave moulding, larger, but not ſo deep as a ſcotia, which ſerves for compartments, &c.

   [1764, Temple Henry Croker, Thomas Williams, Samuel Clark [et al.], “GORGE”, in The Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. …, volume I, London: Printed for the authors, and sold by J. Wilson & J. Fell, […]; J. Fletcher & Co., […]; J. Coote, […]; Cambridge: Mess. Fletcher & Hodson; Dublin: W. Smith & Co., →OCLC, column 1

7. architectureThe rearward side of an outwork, a bastion, or a fort, often open, or not protected against artillery; a narrow entry passage into the outwork of an enclosed fortification.

   Ramps lead from the gorges of the bastions down to these outlets into the main ditch. […] To keep open the communication between the bastions, a gallery between their gorges is made along the curtain wall.

   1874, D[ennis] H[art] Mahan, “Modifications Proposed in the Bastioned System”, in J. B. Wheeler, editor, An Elementary Course of Permanent Fortification, for the Use of the Cadets of the U.S. Military Academy, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: John Wiley & Son, […], →OCLC, paragraph 236, page 127

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   Half Moon. An Outwork conſiſting of two Faces, which makes an Angle Salient, the Gorge whereof bends in like a Bow, or Creſcent, and were formerly us'd to cover the Point of a Baſtion, which diſtinguiſhes them from Ravelins, always plac'd before the Curtin; […]

   1745, “Half Moon”, in An Introduction to the Art of Fortification. […], London: Printed for and sold by John Brindley, […], →OCLC, column 1

   Construction on this massive fort was never completed. […] Only the foundations and a few tiers of stone were completed on the two gorge walls and the gorge bastion. At this point, a significant modification in design was made. […] In this way, the gorge of the fort was closed at minimum expense.

   2018 June, John R. Weaver II, “New York City”, in A Legacy in Brick and Stone: American Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, 1816–1867, 2nd edition, McLean, Va.: Redoubt Press, McGovern Publishing, →ISBN, page 164, column 1

8. fishingA primitive device used instead of a hook to catch fish, consisting of an object that is easy to swallow but difficult to eject or loosen, such as a piece of bone or stone pointed at each end and attached in the middle to a line.

   Hooks of willow wood or bone (often from wishbone) and copper gorges (thin bipointed rods with a fishline attachment in the middle) could be baited with fish scrap or meat.

   2001, Frederick Matthew Wiseman, “The Land Becomes Warm: The Years of the Log Ships (6,500 to 1,000 Winters Ago)”, in The Voice of the Dawn: An Autohistory of the Abenaki Nation, Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, →ISBN, pages 44–45

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   Examining this piece of worked stone, which once belonged to a prehistoric man living in that valley, we find it fairly well polished, though the action of countless years has slightly "weathered" or disintegrated its once smooth surface. In the center, a groove has been cut, and the ends of the stone rise slightly from the middle. It is rather crescent-shaped. It must have been tied to a line, and this stone gorge was covered with a bait; the fish swallowed it, and, the gorge coming crosswise with the gullet, the fish was captured. […] In the Swiss lakes are found the remains of the Lacustrine dwellers. Among the many implements discovered are fish-gorges made of bronze wire. When these forms are studied, the fact must be recognized at once that they follow, in shape and principle of construction, the stone gorges of the Neolithic period.

   2010, Barnet Phillips, “The Primitive Fish-hook”, in Nick Lyons, editor, The Best Fishing Stories Ever Told, New York, N.Y.: Skyhorse Publishing, →ISBN, part I (Early Days—of It and Us), page 7

9. geographyA deep, narrow passage with steep, rocky sides, particularly one with a stream running through it; a ravine.

   Our part of the veranda did not hang over the gorge, but edged the meadow where half a dozen large and sleek horses had stopped grazing to join us.

   1956, Delano Ames, chapter 7, in Crime out of Mind, New York, N.Y.: I. Washburn, →OCLC, →OL

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   It is moreover certain that for eight or nine months of the year, the great rivers rush from their gorges into the mountains as torrents of clear water, or only, in the hot months, discoloured by fine glacial mud; […]

   1873 February, H[enry] B[enedict] Medlicott, “Sketch of the Geology of the North-west Provinces”, in Records of the Geological Survey of India, volume VI, part 1, Calcutta: Printed for the Government of India; London: Trübner and Co., →OCLC, page 10

   As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm. Here and there are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests.

   1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC

   Synonyms: canyon

10. engineeringThe groove of a pulley.

    But as the rope muſt lead the pulley, or the pulley the rope, when there is room to apprehend that the rope may not ſlide upon the pulley, the gorge is hollowed in the form of an angle, or ſtuck with points,[…].

    1761 May, “Elements of Philosophy, […] Illustrating the Mechanical Powers of Balances, Levers, Pulleys, &c. and Some Observations as to the Center of Gravity and Equilibres. [Of Pulleys and Moufles or Mousled Pulleys.]”, in The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure: […], volume CXCV, number XXVIII, London: Published […] [b]y John Hinton […], →OCLC, page 256, column 1

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    A cord, in passing round a pulley, lies in a groove, sometimes called the gorge of the pulley; if the object of the pulley is merely to support, guide, or strain the cord, the gorge may be considerably wider than the cord; if the pulley is to drive or to be driven by the cord, so as to transmit motive power, the gorge must in general fit the cord closely, or even be of a triangular shape, so as to hold it tight.

    1869, William John Macquorn Rankine, “Of Elementary Combinations in Mechanism”, in A Manual of Machinery and Millwork, London: Charles Griffin and Company, […], →OCLC, part I (Geometry of Machinery), section V (Connection by Bands), paragraph 172, page 187

11. plural normallygovernmentA whirlpool used as a heraldic charge.

    The heraldic name for whirlpools is gorges, and a mediaeval family called Gorges bore a whirlpool as its arms.

    1966, Charles Mackinnon of Dunakin, chapter 5, in The Observer's Book of Heraldry, London: Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., page 77

    Synonyms: gurge

present singular third person gorges · participle present gorging · participle past gorged · past gorged

1. intransitivereflexiveTo stuff the gorge or gullet with food; to eat greedily and in large quantities.

   They gorged themselves on chocolate and cake.

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   [I]f the preceding night prove dark and cloudy, the ſucceeding day, will be no good day to angle in, unleſs it be for ſmall fiſh; for at ſuch time the larger prey abroad for the leſſer; who by inſtinct knowing the danger, hide themſelves till the morning; and having faſted all night, become then very hungry while the larger having gorged themſelves, lie abſconded all the day.

   1735, “ANGLING”, in The Sportsman’s Dictionary: Or, The Country Gentleman’s Companion, in All Rural Recreations: […], volume I, London: Printed for C. Hitch, […], and C. Davis, […]; and S. Austen, […], →OCLC

   "Friend," he said, after watching him for some minutes, "if thou gorgest thyself in this fashion, thou wilt assuredly choak. Wilt thou not take a draught out of my cup to help down all that dry meat?"

   1824 June, [Walter Scott], “Narrative of Darsie Latimer, Continued”, in Redgauntlet, […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 200

   Bulimia is an eating disorder that consists of gorging on food, followed by self-induced vomiting. This behavioral disorder may be part of anorexia nervosa or may constitute a distinct, separate syndrome.

   1991, Janet L. Davies, Ellen H. Janosik, “Adaptational Variations and Disruptions”, in Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing: A Caring Approach, Boston, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, →ISBN, part 2 (Variations and Disruptions in Mental Health), page 359, column 1

2. transitiveTo swallow, especially with greediness, or in large mouthfuls or quantities.

   Seiz'd by his [a lion's] stalwart teeth, at once | his victim's [a cow's] neck is broken: Thereafter, swilleth he the blood, | and all her entrails gorgeth.

   1871, Homer, “Book XI. Disasters of Achaian Chiefs.”, in Francis W[illiam] Newman, transl., The Iliad of Homer: Faithfully Translated into Unrhymed English Metre, 2nd revised edition, London: Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC, page 155, lines 175–176

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   If you use live bait, be exceedingly careful in determining when the fish has gorged it. You should give him several minutes after he has seized it, for this purpose. On seeing the bait, a pickerel will generally run off with it, and will then stop to gorge it, but does not always do so. […] But if he has gorged the bait, he will soon start off a second time, and sometimes will stop and start off the third time. In these cases, you should never be in a hurry. when you are convinced that he has taken down the bait, draw a tight line, and strike for your fish.

   1875, “Fishing”, in Hunter’s & Trapper’s Complete Guide, a Manual of Instruction in the Art of Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing, with the Secrets of Making, Setting, and Baiting Traps, by an Old Hunter and Trapper. […], New York, N.Y.: Hurst & Co., publishers, […], →OCLC, page 53

3. transitiveTo fill up to the throat; to glut, to satiate.

   If in thy doting and decrepit age, Thy ſoul, a ſtranger in thy youth to rage, Begins in cruel deeds to take delight, Gorge with my blood thy barb'rous appetite; […]

   a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “[Translations from Boccace.] Sigismonda and Guiscardo.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume III, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 270

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   The giant, gorg'd with flesh, and wine, and blood, Lay stretch'd at length and snoring in his den, Belching raw gobbets from his maw, o'ercharged With purple wine and curdled gore confus'd.

   a. 1720, Joseph Addison, “Milton’s Style Imitated, in a Translation of a Story out of the Third Æneid”, in The Dramatick Works of Joseph Addison. With the Authour’s Poems, on Several Occasions, Boston, Mass.: Printed by Snelling and Simons, for J. W. Armstrong, […], published 1808, →OCLC, page 186

   Synonyms: sate, stuff

4. transitiveTo fill up (an organ, a vein, etc.); to block up or obstruct; (US, specifically) of ice: to choke or fill a channel or passage, causing an obstruction.

   At the mouth of the river there is shoal water, in which the ice grounds, and in severe weather, it forms a point of support for successive floating masses, until it sometimes gorges up for many miles above the ferry of the railway line.

   1852 March, Ellwood Morris, “Notice of a Railroad upon an Ice Grade”, in John F[ries] Frazer, editor, Journal of the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, volume XXIII (Third Series; volume LIII overall), number 3, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published by the Franklin Institute, at their hall, →OCLC, page 161

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   The morbid appearances left in the body after poisoning with carbonic acid gas have been chiefly observed in persons killed by charcoal vapour. […] the heart and great veins are gorged with black fluid blood; the eyes are generally glistening and prominent, the face red, and the tongue protruding and black. Gorging of the cerebral vessels seems to be very common.

   1836, Robert Christison, “Of the Poisonous Gases”, in A Treatise of Poisons, in Relation to Medical Jurisprudence, Physiology, and the Practice of Physic, 3rd edition, Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black, […]; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman, →OCLC, page 752

   He'd meant to only kiss her, to play a bit with her mouth, to place small kisses on the fragile bones of her cheeks, but when their tongues met, the gentleness flamed to full-fledged wanting. His cock gorged swiftly, and he pressed her tight against him between his legs.

   2015 November 13, Linda Anderson, chapter 16, in The Secrets of Sadie Maynard, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN

   Synonyms: engorge

plural gorges

1. An act of gorging.

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   To condition a hawk, feed it once in three days with as much meat as it can possibly stow away—which you will find a vast quantity, and more than necessary for a meal. This feast is known technically as a gorge. […] Between the gorges give only regular meals, and not by any means plentiful ones. Two gorges a week ought to be sufficient, with two meals a day, morning and evening. After a gorge, hood your hawks, to keep them in a torpid state till digestion is accomplished.

   1870 February, “American Falconry. A Royal Sport Proper for a Republican People.”, in [Thomas] Mayne Reid, editor, Onward: A Magazine for the Young Manhood of America, volume III, New York, N.Y.: Onward Publishing Office, →OCLC, 3rd head (Training Falcons), pages 127–128

   He would arm his mind with laughter, laughter is not quite the word but it will have to serve, at every point, then he would admit the idea and blow it to pieces. Smears, as after a gorge of blackberries, of hilarity, which is not quite the word either, would be adhering to his lips as he stepped smartly, ohne Hast aber ohne Rast, into the torture-chamber.

   1934, Samuel Beckett, “Yellow”, in More Pricks than Kicks, London: Chatto and Windus, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, 1972, →ISBN, page 164

comparative more gorge · superlative most gorge · alternative gorg

1. slangGorgeous.

   Oh, look at him: isn’t he gorge?

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   "Um, Hadley? Don't tell me that's another new outfit. It's totally gorge!” Sofia stopped me in the middle of the hallway to admire the clothes I'd meticulously picked out that morning.

   2013, Brittany [Lyn] Geragotelis, chapter 1, in Life’s a Witch, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster BFYR, →ISBN, page 19

   While she's [Katy Perry's] been hard at work on her singing and choreography, designers have been hard at work coming up with the most gorge, glam, and fabulous costumes for her to wear on stage.

   2014 May 5, “Katy Perry Reveals Her Prismatic World Tour Costumes Featuring Cavalli, Valentino, & MORE!”, in PerezHilton.com, archived from the original on 28 Mar 2019

   Now here's a little inside scoop, I happen to adore Michelle [Visage] and she has never looked more gorge than in this episode!

   2017 May 12, Carson Kressley, “RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: ‘RuPaul Roast’”, in Entertainment Weekly, archived from the original on 28 Mar 2019

1. A male given name.