What does "gorge" mean?
The front aspect of the neck; the outside of the throat.
Gorge
/ɡɔːdʒ/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The front aspect of the neck; the outside of the throat.
- Grammar: gorge is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: defile, gullet, abysm, abyss.
- Useful contrasts: block, deposit, fill.
- Usage evidence: An old, rickety footbridge is the only way to get to the other side of the gorge.
How to use "gorge"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "gorge" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "gorge" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "gorge" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 The front aspect of the neck; the outside of the throat. archaic
"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."
- 2 An act of gorging.
"To condition a hawk, feed it once in three days with as much meat as it can possibly stow away—which you will find a vast quantity, and more than necessary for a meal. This feast is known technically as a gorge. […] Between the gorges give only regular meals, and not by any means plentiful ones. Two gorges a week ought to be sufficient, with two meals a day, morning and evening. After a gorge, hood your hawks, to keep them in a torpid state till digestion is accomplished."
- 3 the passage between the pharynx and the stomach wordnet
- 4 The inside of the throat; the esophagus, the gullet; (falconry, specifically) the crop or gizzard of a hawk. archaic, literary
"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."
- 5 a narrow pass (especially one between mountains) wordnet
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 The throat of a flower.
- 7 a deep ravine (usually with a river running through it) wordnet
- 8 Food that has been taken into the gullet or the stomach, particularly if it is regurgitated or vomited out.
"My gorge rises at the sight of it."
- 9 A choking or filling of a channel or passage by an obstruction; the obstruction itself. US
"an ice gorge in a river"
- 10 A concave moulding; a cavetto.
"GORGE, Gula, in architecture, the narroweſt part of Tuſcan and Doric capitals, lying between the aſtragal, above the ſhaft of the pillar and the annulets. […] It is alſo uſed for a concave moulding, larger, but not ſo deep as a ſcotia, which ſerves for compartments, &c."
- 11 The rearward side of an outwork, a bastion, or a fort, often open, or not protected against artillery; a narrow entry passage into the outwork of an enclosed fortification.
"Half Moon. An Outwork conſiſting of two Faces, which makes an Angle Salient, the Gorge whereof bends in like a Bow, or Creſcent, and were formerly us'd to cover the Point of a Baſtion, which diſtinguiſhes them from Ravelins, always plac'd before the Curtin; […]"
- 12 A primitive device used instead of a hook to catch fish, consisting of an object that is easy to swallow but difficult to eject or loosen, such as a piece of bone or stone pointed at each end and attached in the middle to a line.
"Hooks of willow wood or bone (often from wishbone) and copper gorges (thin bipointed rods with a fishline attachment in the middle) could be baited with fish scrap or meat."
- 13 A deep, narrow passage with steep, rocky sides, particularly one with a stream running through it; a ravine.
"It is moreover certain that for eight or nine months of the year, the great rivers rush from their gorges into the mountains as torrents of clear water, or only, in the hot months, discoloured by fine glacial mud; […]"
- 14 The groove of a pulley.
"But as the rope muſt lead the pulley, or the pulley the rope, when there is room to apprehend that the rope may not ſlide upon the pulley, the gorge is hollowed in the form of an angle, or ſtuck with points,[…]."
- 15 A whirlpool used as a heraldic charge. plural-normally
"The heraldic name for whirlpools is gorges, and a mediaeval family called Gorges bore a whirlpool as its arms."
Verb
- 1 To stuff the gorge or gullet with food; to eat greedily and in large quantities. intransitive, reflexive
"They gorged themselves on chocolate and cake."
- 2 overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself wordnet
- 3 To swallow, especially with greediness, or in large mouthfuls or quantities. transitive
"Seiz'd by his [a lion's] stalwart teeth, at once | his victim's [a cow's] neck is broken: Thereafter, swilleth he the blood, | and all her entrails gorgeth."
- 4 To fill up to the throat; to glut, to satiate. transitive
"If in thy doting and decrepit age, Thy ſoul, a ſtranger in thy youth to rage, Begins in cruel deeds to take delight, Gorge with my blood thy barb'rous appetite; […]"
- 5 To fill up (an organ, a vein, etc.); to block up or obstruct; (US, specifically) of ice: to choke or fill a channel or passage, causing an obstruction. transitive
"At the mouth of the river there is shoal water, in which the ice grounds, and in severe weather, it forms a point of support for successive floating masses, until it sometimes gorges up for many miles above the ferry of the railway line."
Adjective
- 1 Gorgeous. slang
"Oh, look at him: isn’t he gorge?"
Proper Noun
- 1 A male given name.
Example
"An old, rickety footbridge is the only way to get to the other side of the gorge."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "gorge"?
Common synonyms include: defile, gullet, abysm, abyss, allay, arroyo.
How do you use "gorge" in a sentence?
An old, rickety footbridge is the only way to get to the other side of the gorge.
How do you pronounce "gorge"?
Pronounced /ɡɔːdʒ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
The verb is derived from Middle English gorgen (“to eat greedily; to gorge”), a borrowing from Old French gorger, gorgier (modern French gorger (“to eat greedily; to gorge”)), from gorge (“throat”); see further at etymology 1. The noun is derived from the verb.
Etymology 3
Clipping of gorge(ous); originally British slang.