gorge

/ɡɔːdʒ/

//ɡɔːdʒ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"gorge" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gorge” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,149. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,149
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The front aspect of the neck; the outside of the throat.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gorge · gorge · English

gorge · rank #17,149 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #17,149
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH Goa

Nearest frequency peer: Goa (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “gorge”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “gorge” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

gorge vs GRE
0% similar
gorge vs gory
60% similar
gorge vs gove
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for gorge
PropertyValue
Headwordgorge
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɡɔːdʒ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#17,149
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “gorge”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).gorgelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Goa” (#17,148), “greenwood” (#17,150), “fused” (#17,147). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gorge” is #17,149. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around gorge (IPA /ɡɔːdʒ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #17,149 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for gorge, with forms such as "ggorge", "gogre", and "goreg". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "GRE", "gory", "gove", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English gorge (“esophagus, gullet; throat; bird's crop; food in a hawk's crop; food or drink that has been eaten”), a borrowing from Old French gorge (“throat”) (modern French gorge (“throat; breast”)), from Vulgar Latin *gorga, *gurga, from Lat… The correct English form is gorge, spelled G-O-R-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The front aspect of the neck; the outside of the throat.
  2. 2
    The inside of the throat; the esophagus, the gullet; (falconry, specifically) the crop or gizzard of a hawk.
  3. 3
    The throat of a flower.
  4. 4
    Food that has been taken into the gullet or the stomach, particularly if it is regurgitated or vomited out.
  5. 5
    A choking or filling of a channel or passage by an obstruction; the obstruction itself.
  6. 6
    A concave moulding; a cavetto.
  7. 7
    The 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.
  8. 8
    A 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.
  9. 9
    A deep, narrow passage with steep, rocky sides, particularly one with a stream running through it; a ravine.
  10. 10
    The groove of a pulley.
  11. 11
    A whirlpool used as a heraldic charge.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how gorge appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

Etymology

From Middle English gorge (“esophagus, gullet; throat; bird's crop; food in a hawk's crop; food or drink that has been eaten”), a borrowing from Old French gorge (“throat”) (modern French gorge (“throat; breast”)), from Vulgar Latin *gorga, *gurga, from Latin gurges (“eddy, whirlpool; gulf; sea”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- (“to devour, swallow; to eat”). The English word is cognate with Galician gorxa (“throat”), Italian gorga, gorgia (“gorge, ravine; (obsolete) throat”), Occitan gorga, gorja, Portuguese gorja (“gullet, throat; gorge”), Spanish gorja (“gullet, throat; gorge”). Doublet of gour and gurges.

This word in other languages

garganta(Español)Gurgel(Deutsch)garganta(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggorge
  • gogre
  • goreg
  • gorgge
  • gorrge
  • groge
  • ogrge

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gorge - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ggorge1gogre2goreg2gorgge1gorrge1groge2ogrge2
Edit distance from "gorge"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "gorge"?
"gorge" is spelled G-O-R-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɡɔːdʒ/.
What does "gorge" mean?
As a noun, "gorge" means: The front aspect of the neck; the outside of the throat.
What words are commonly confused with "gorge"?
"gorge" is commonly confused with "GRE", "gory", "gove". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "gorge"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gorge" is /ɡɔːdʒ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "gorge"?
From Middle English gorge (“esophagus, gullet; throat; bird's crop; food in a hawk's crop; food or drink that has been eaten”), a borrowing from Old French gorge (“throat”) (modern French gorge (“throat; breast”)), from Vulgar Latin *gorga, *gurga... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gorge", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fused#17,147finer#17,142fetal#17,140Judah#17,166

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

gutted7 variantshoodie7 variantsFerris7 variantsinsure7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list