I. gouge 1 /ɡaʊdʒ/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
to make a deep hole or cut in the surface of something:
He took a knife and gouged a hole in the bottom of the boat.
gouge something ↔ out phrasal verb
1 . to form a hole, space etc by digging into a surface and removing material, or to remove material by digging
gouge something ↔ out of
A rough road had been gouged out of the rock.
Every week 30,000 tonnes of slate are gouged out of the mountains.
2 . gouge sb’s eyes out to remove someone’s eyes with a pointed weapon
II. gouge 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: French ; Origin: Late Latin gulbia ]
a hole or cut made in something, usually by a sharp tool or weapon