goose

Less common meanings

4. 4
   silly personnounslangcountable or uncountable

   A silly or foolish person.

   Don't be a goose. Of course they invited you.

   He felt like a goose after locking his keys in the car.

   UsageMild and often affectionate, most often to someone you like: you silly goose.

   Similarfool, twit, idiot, ninny, dope

   Note

   A light insult for a silly or foolish person. Langdon Mitchell's The New York Idea (1906) has "I'm sorry for you, but you're such a goose." When several people are meant, writers use gooses as well as geese, as in Julia London's The Princess Plan (2019), which addresses a group as "you gooses."

5. 5
   pinch bottomverbslangtransitive

   To sharply poke or pinch someone's buttocks, or prod between them.

   Someone goosed him in the crowded hallway, and he spun around in surprise.

   He warned the kids not to goose each other while waiting in line.

   Similarpinch, poke, prod

   Note

   A prank in some hands and an assault in others. In Nathanael West's Miss Lonelyhearts (1933), a woman goosed a man in a dark foyer as a joke. In Artemis OakGrove's "I Deserve A Medal" in Gay Community News (1991), being goosed by an employer appears in a list of sexual harassments. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Nathanael West wrote Miss Lonelyhearts, first published in 1933. openlibrary.org
   • A woman gooses a man in a dark foyer and laughs, supporting the description of a joking gesture. gutenberg.net.au
   • Artemis OakGrove's “I Deserve A Medal” appeared in Gay Community News in 1991 and includes being goosed by an employer among experiences of sexual harassment. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   female birdnouncountable or uncountable

   The female member of the goose species.

   The goose guarded her nest while the gander patrolled the water's edge.

   A goose can lay up to a dozen eggs in a single clutch.

   UsageThe male is a gander; in everyday speech, goose covers both.

   Oppositegander

   Note

   Breeders' and poultry-keepers' usage: strictly speaking, the female is the goose and the male is the gander. Lewis Wright's "Geese and Swans" in The New Book of Poultry pairs "ganders and geese" as farm stock in just this way. Outside such careful contexts, the general name for the bird covers both sexes, so in everyday speech a gander is still a goose. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Lewis Wright’s chapter “Geese and Swans” in The New Book of Poultry pairs the terms as farm stock. en.wiktionary.org
   • Goose can designate either sex; paired with gander, it specifically designates the female. en.wikipedia.org
7. 7
   tailor's ironnounarchaiccountable or uncountable

   An iron that tailors heated in glowing coals or embers and used for pressing fabric.

   Each morning the tailor buried his goose in the hot coals so it would be ready to press the first coat of the day.

   Come in, tailor. Here you may roast your goose.

   c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”

   Note

   An archaic trade word, also called a goose iron, named for its curved handle, which looks like a goose's neck. Its best-known appearance is the porter's joke in Shakespeare's Macbeth (first printed 1623): "Come in, tailor. Here you may roast your goose." The tailor's iron heats in the fire, and the line also plays on goose as food. Modern readers usually need the tailoring sense explained before the joke lands. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • An archaic name for a tailor's pressing iron, also called a goose iron, heated in coals or embers. en.wiktionary.org
   • The iron was named for its handle's resemblance to a goose's neck. en.wikisource.org
   • Macbeth is by Shakespeare, and the Porter speaks the quoted words. folger.edu
   • Macbeth was first printed in 1623. folger.edu
   • The tailor's iron was heated at the fire. gutenberg.org
8. 8
   boo off stageverbslangtransitive

   To hiss at a performer in order to drive them off the stage.

   Similarhiss, boo, heckle

   Oppositeapplaud, cheer

9. 9
   board gamenounhistoricaluncountable

   An old dice race game, popular across Europe, in which players moved counters along a track, earning a double move on reaching a picture of a goose.

   On winter nights the family gathered to play goose at the kitchen table.

   A lucky throw in goose could send a counter racing ahead.

   Note

   The game takes its name from its lucky square. The word now turns up mainly in accounts of older pastimes, though the game is still played in some countries. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The game is named after its goose-marked squares. gutenberg.org
10. 10
    girlfriendnoundatedSouth Africacountable or uncountable

    A young woman or one's girlfriend.

    Similarsweetheart, girlfriend, girl, lass

    Note

    South African slang of an earlier generation, now dated. In current speech it reads as period color rather than ordinary talk. Because goose as "a silly person" sits right beside it, a modern listener may hear an insult where only affection was meant, so it is best kept to dialogue or writing set in the past. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Goose meaning a young woman or girlfriend is dated South African slang. en.wiktionary.org
    • Goose also means a silly person. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    verbslangUK

    Of a private-hire taxi driver, to pick up a passenger who has not pre-booked, in breach of UK licensing rules.