gorge
/ɡɔɹd͡ʒ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.40 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The inside of the throat; the esophagus, the gullet; (falconry, specifically) the crop or gizzard of a hawk.
Archaic; Literary
noun
Food that has been taken into the gullet or the stomach, particularly if it is regurgitated or vomited out.
noun
A choking or filling of a channel or passage by an obstruction; the obstruction itself.
American usage
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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."
- "Gleam, a term uſed after a hawk hath caſt and gleameth, or throweth up filth from her gorge."
- "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."
- "My gorge rises at the sight of it."
- "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."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɡɔɹd͡ʒ/
- British English: /ɡɔːdʒ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
gorges (plural)
gorges (present, singular)
gorging (participle, present)
gorged (participle, past)
gorged (past)
more gorge (comparative)
most gorge (superlative)
gorg (alternative)