# gouge

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡaʊd͡ʒ/ · frequency rank #41,154

## Definitions
1. Senses relating to cutting tools.
2. Senses relating to cutting tools.
3. Senses relating to cutting tools.
4. A cut or groove, as left by a gouge or something sharp.
5. An act of gouging.
6. A cheat, a fraud; an imposition.
7. An impostor.
8. Soft material lying between the wall of a vein and the solid vein of ore.
9. Information.

## Etymology
From Middle English gouge (“chisel with concave blade; gouge”), from Old French gouge, goi (“gouge”), from Late Latin goia, gubia, gulbia (“chisel; piercer”), borrowed from Gaulish *gulbiā, from Proto-Celtic *gulbā, *gulbi, *gulbīnos (“beak, bill”). The English word is cognate with Italian gorbia, gubbia (“ferrule”), Old Breton golb, Old Irish gulba (“beak”), Portuguese goiva, Scottish Gaelic gilb (“chisel”), Spanish gubia (“chisel, gouge”), Welsh gylf (“beak; pointed instrument”), gylyf (“sickle”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

## Easily confused with
- **gout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gouge-vs-gout)
- **gove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gouge-vs-gove)
- **gould** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gouge-vs-gould)
- **Gough** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gouge-vs-gough)
- **gourd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gouge-vs-gourd)
- **grudge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gouge-vs-grudge)
- **grouse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gouge-vs-grouse)
- **grunge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gouge-vs-grunge)
- **gog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gog-vs-gouge)
- **gone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gone-vs-gouge)
- **glue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glue-vs-gouge)
- **gore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gore-vs-gouge)
- **gong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gong-vs-gouge)
- **gage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gage-vs-gouge)
- **gogo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gogo-vs-gouge)
- **gauge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gauge-vs-gouge)
- **goose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goose-vs-gouge)
- **gorge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gorge-vs-gouge)
- **goode** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goode-vs-gouge)
- **gauze** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gauze-vs-gouge)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ggouge`, `gogue`, `goueg`, `gougge`, `guoge`, `oguge`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/gouge