gored

1. 1
   verb

   Past tense and past participle of gore.

   The rhino charged and gored the side of the ranger's truck.

   The dressmaker gored each panel so the skirt would flare at the hem.

   Note

   Two very different jobs share this spelling: a bull or a rhino gores with its horn, while a dressmaker gores a panel of fabric. In the animal meaning it is often passive, with the animal named after by: he was gored by a bull. Gore is regular, so gored serves as past tense and participle alike, and the sewing meaning also gives the adjective for paneled skirts.

2. 2
   adjective

   Made with one or more gores, the triangular pieces of fabric set into a garment or sail to shape it.

   She wore a long gored skirt that swung as she walked.

   The pattern makes a six-gored skirt that fits at the waist and widens toward the hem.

   Note

   The tailoring idea is in the taper: each gore is narrow at one end and wide at the other, which is how a gored skirt can sit close at the waist and still swing at the hem. A number in front counts the panels, hyphenated before the noun, as in a four-gored or six-gored skirt. The word does not take more or most.

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