goose

Etymology

PIE word *ǵʰh₂éns From Middle English goos, gos, from Old English gōs, from Proto-West Germanic *gans, from Proto-Germanic *gans, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰh₂éns. Cognates: Compare West Frisian goes, North Frisian göis (also Fering-Öömrang dialect North Frisian gus; Sölring dialect North Frisian Guus; Heligoland dialect North Frisian gus), Low German Goos, Low German Gans, Dutch gans, German Gans, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian gås, Icelandic gæs, Irish gé, Latin ānser, Latvian zùoss, Russian гусь (gusʹ), Albanian gatë, Ancient Greek χήν (khḗn), Avestan 𐬰𐬁 (zā), Sanskrit हंस (haṃsá). * The tailor's iron is so called from the likeness of the handle to the neck of a goose. * The verb sense of pinching the buttocks is derived from a goose's inclination to bite at a retreating intruder's hindquarters.

noun

1. Any 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 bigger than ducks.
   There is a flock of geese on the pond.
2. A female goose (sense 1).
3. The flesh of the goose used as food.
   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. (slang, plural geese or gooses) A 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, page 430
   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, 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
   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
5. (archaic) A tailor's iron, heated in live coals or embers, used to press fabrics.
6. (South Africa, slang, dated) A young woman or girlfriend.
7. (uncountable, historical) An old English board game in which players moved counters along a board, earning a double move when they reached the picture of a goose.

verb

1. (transitive, slang) To sharply poke or pinch the buttocks of (a person).
   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. (transitive) To stimulate; to spur.
   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. December 7, 2021, 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. 2023-07-10, James Poniewozik, “The Twitter Watch Party Is Over”, in The New York Times
3. (transitive, slang) To gently accelerate (an automobile or machine), or give repeated small taps on the accelerator.
4. (slang, UK) Of private-hire taxi drivers, to pick up a passenger who has not booked a cab, in violation of UK licensing conditions.
5. (transitive, slang) To hiss (a performer) off the stage.