goose

SayGOOS/ɡus//ɡuːs/

Pluralgeese

Verbgooses, goosing, goosed

11 meanings of goose

Practice

1
water birdnouncountable or uncountable
A large water bird with webbed feet and feathers, bigger than a duck.
Like a duck, but bigger.
A goose chased the children across the park.
Geese fly south together every fall.
UsageOne goose, two geese (not ~~incorrect: gooses~~). A group is a flock.
2
meatnouncountable or uncountable
Meat from the goose, cooked and eaten as food.
Like the turkey some families roast for a holiday meal.
We ate roast goose for dinner during the holidays.
Goose tastes richer than chicken.
UsageFor the meat, say roast goose or some goose, with no a.
Note
3
boostverbslangtransitive
To give something a sudden push to make it go faster or grow, like pressing a car's gas pedal.
Like a small push that gets a ball rolling faster.
The tax cut helped goose the economy.
They goosed sales with a big weekend discount.
UsageUsed with numbers that can go up: goose sales, goose demand.
Similarboost, spur, stimulate
Note

Less common meanings

4
silly personnounslangcountable or uncountable
A foolish or silly person.
Like calling a friend 'silly' in a kind, joking way.
Stop being such a goose and come inside.
You silly goose, you put your shirt on backward.
UsageA gentle, friendly way to call someone silly: you silly goose.
Similarfool, twit, idiot, ninny, dope
Note
5
pinch bottomverbslangtransitive
To poke or pinch someone sharply on the bottom.
Like a sudden tickle that makes you jump.
Don't goose me like that. It made me jump!
She goosed her brother when he wasn't looking.
Similarpinch, poke, prod
Note
6
female birdnouncountable or uncountable
The female of the large water bird, not the male.
Like how a female chicken is a hen and the male is a rooster.
The goose sat on her eggs while the gander stood guard.
Each spring the goose lays a clutch of eggs in the reeds.
UsageA male goose is a gander. Most people say goose for both.
Oppositegander
Note
7
tailor's ironnounarchaiccountable or uncountable
A heavy iron, heated in hot coals, that tailors used to press cloth.
Like a clothes iron, but heated in a fire instead of by electricity.
The tailor pressed the seam with a hot goose.
Come in, tailor. Here you may roast your goose.
c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”Here, goose means a tailor's iron, heated in hot coals to press cloth.
Note
8
boo off stageverbslangtransitive
To hiss loudly at a performer to try to make them leave the stage.
Similarhiss, boo, heckle
Oppositeapplaud, cheer
9
board gamenounhistoricaluncountable
An old board game where players moved pieces along a path, getting an extra move at each goose picture.
Like Snakes and Ladders, where landing on a spot moves you ahead.
On rainy afternoons we rolled the dice and played goose on Grandma's old board.
We rolled the dice and moved our pieces in a game of goose.
Note
10
girlfriendnoundatedSouth Africacountable or uncountable
A young woman, or someone's girlfriend.
Similarsweetheart, girlfriend, girl, lass
Note
11
verbslangUK
For a private taxi driver, to pick up a passenger who did not book ahead, against the rules.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of goose apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

This word comes from Old English "gōs." It goes back through old Germanic to an ancient root, and is related to German "Gans" and Dutch "gans."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Goose comes from Old English gōs. en.wiktionary.org
The word descends through Germanic from an ancient root. en.wiktionary.org
Goose is related to German Gans and Dutch gans. en.wiktionary.org