I. ˈgȯrj, -ȯ(ə)j noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin gurga, alteration of Latin gurges whirlpool, throat; akin to Old High German querka throat, Old Norse kverk throat, Sanskrit gargara whirlpool, Latin vorare to devour — more at voracious
1. : throat
the strong, dark golden color of her hair, her shoulder bones and gorge — John Cheever
full to the gorge with misery — Djuna Barnes
— often used to indicate a strong feeling of repugnance or revulsion sometimes accompanied by a physical sensation of blockage or constriction, especially with the verb rise
when he tried to eat the flesh of his ox his gorge rose — Pearl Buck
my very gorge rises at the thought — Agnes S. Turnbull
2.
a. : a hawk's crop
b. : stomach , maw , belly , gullet
thy gorge ever cramming — P.B.Shelley
c. : a full meal : a large amount of food
gorges o' wild plums … clean up to his elbows — J.W.Riley
if it fails to get a real gorge , it … cannot grow or mature — H.B.Glass
3. : the entrance into a bastion or other outwork of a fort — see bastion illustration
4.
a. : a band or fillet round the shaft just under the capital at the top in some orders of columnar architecture
b. : a concave molding : cavetto
c. : a small groove under a coping for carrying the drip
5. : a primitive device used instead of a fishhook consisting of an object (as a piece of bone attached in the middle to a line) easy to swallow but difficult to eject
6. : a narrow passage or entrance: as
a. : a defile between mountains
b. : a ravine with steep rocky walls
c. : a narrow steep-walled canyon or a particularly narrow steep-walled part of a canyon
7. : the groove in a pulley sheave
8. : an aggregation of matter that fills or chokes up a passage or channel : mass
an ice gorge in a river
9. : the line on the front of a coat or jacket formed by the crease of the lapel and collar
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English gorgen, from Middle French gorger, from gorge, n.
intransitive verb
: to eat greedily : eat to repletion
gorge throughout the day on delicacies — Jean Stafford
transitive verb
1. : to stuff to capacity (as with food) : glut , satiate , cram
people gorging themselves under the eyes of others who are starving — Hans Kohn
2. : fill : choke up
a vein gorged with blood
3. : to swallow greedily : devour
gorge the bait
gorge one's fill
Synonyms: see satiate
III. noun
( -s )
: the act or an instance of gorging
lions alternate heavy gorges with … periods of fasting — James Stevenson-Hamilton