Goose

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Goose \Goose\ (g[=oo]s), n.; pl. {Geese} (g[=e]s). [OE. gos, AS.
     g[=o]s, pl. g[=e]s; akin to D. & G. gans, Icel. g[=a]s, Dan.
     gaas, Sw. g[*a]s, Russ. guse. OIr. geiss, L. anser, for
     hanser, Gr. chh`n, Skr. ha[.m]sa. [root]233. Cf. {Gander},
     {Gannet}, {Ganza}, {Gosling}.] (Zool.)
     [1913 Webster]


     1. Any large web-footen bird of the subfamily {Anserin[ae]},
        and belonging to {Anser}, {Branta}, {Chen}, and several
        allied genera. See {Anseres}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The common domestic goose is believed to have been
           derived from the European graylag goose ({Anser
           anser}). The bean goose ({A. segetum}), the American
           wild or Canada goose ({Branta Canadensis}), and the
           bernicle goose ({Branta leucopsis}) are well known
           species. The American white or snow geese and the blue
           goose belong to the genus {Chen}. See {Bernicle},
           {Emperor goose}, under {Emperor}, {Snow goose}, {Wild
           goose}, {Brant}.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Any large bird of other related families, resembling the
        common goose.
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     Note: The Egyptian or fox goose ({Alopochen Aegyptiaca}) and
           the African spur-winged geese ({Plectropterus}) belong
           to the family {Plectropterid[ae]}. The Australian
           semipalmated goose ({Anseranas semipalmata}) and Cape
           Barren goose ({Cereopsis Nov[ae]-Hollandi[ae]}) are
           very different from northern geese, and each is made
           the type of a distinct family. Both are domesticated in
           Australia.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A tailor's smoothing iron, so called from its handle,
        which resembles the neck of a goose.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A silly creature; a simpleton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. A game played with counters on a board divided into
        compartments, in some of which a goose was depicted.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The pictures placed for ornament and use,
              The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose.
                                                    --Goldsmith.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {A wild goose chase}, an attempt to accomplish something
        impossible or unlikely of attainment.
  
     {Fen goose}. See under {Fen}.
  
     {Goose barnacle} (Zool.), any pedunculated barnacle of the
        genus {Anatifa} or {Lepas}; -- called also {duck
        barnacle}. See {Barnacle}, and {Cirripedia}.
  
     {Goose cap}, a silly person. [Obs.] --Beau. & .
  
     {Goose corn} (Bot.), a coarse kind of rush ({Juncus
        squarrosus}).
  
     {Goose feast}, Michaelmas. [Colloq. Eng.]
  
     {Goose grass}. (Bot.)
        (a) A plant of the genus {Galium} ({G. Aparine}), a
            favorite food of geese; -- called also {catchweed} and
            {cleavers}.
        (b) A species of knotgrass ({Polygonum aviculare}).
        (c) The annual spear grass ({Poa annua}).
  
     {Goose neck}, anything, as a rod of iron or a pipe, curved
        like the neck of a goose; specially (Naut.), an iron hook
        connecting a spar with a mast.
  
     {Goose quill}, a large feather or quill of a goose; also, a
        pen made from it.
  
     {Goose skin}. See {Goose flesh}, above.
  
     {Goose tongue} (Bot.), a composite plant ({Achillea
        ptarmica}), growing wild in the British islands.
  
     {Sea goose}. (Zool.) See {Phalarope}.
  
     {Solan goose}. (Zool.) See {Gannet}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  goose
       n 1: web-footed long-necked typically gregarious migratory
            aquatic birds usually larger and less aquatic than ducks
       2: a man who is a stupid incompetent fool [syn: {fathead}, {goof},
           {goofball}, {bozo}, {jackass}, {cuckoo}, {twat}, {zany}]
       3: flesh of a goose (domestic or wild)
       [also: {geese} (pl)]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  68 Moby Thesaurus words for "goose":
     Bantam, Cornish hen, banty, barn-door fowl, barnyard fowl, biddy,
     broiler, brooder, broody hen, caille, canard, caneton, capon,
     chanticleer, chapon, chick, chickabiddy, chicken, chicky, cock,
     cockerel, dindon, domestic fowl, drake, duck, duckling,
     dunghill fowl, faisan, fowl, fryer, game fowl, gander, gobbler,
     gosling, grouse, guinea cock, guinea fowl, guinea hen, hen,
     hen turkey, oie, partlet, partridge, pheasant, pigeon, pigeonneau,
     poulard, poulet, poult, poultry, pullet, quail, roaster, rooster,
     setting hen, silly, silly Billy, silly ass, spring chicken, squab,
     stewing chicken, tom, tom turkey, turkey, turkey gobbler,
     turkey-cock, volaille, wild duck
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  GOOSE, n.  A bird that supplies quills for writing.  These, by some
  occult process of nature, are penetrated and suffused with various
  degrees of the bird's intellectual energies and emotional character,
  so that when inked and drawn mechanically across paper by a person
  called an "author," there results a very fair and accurate transcript
  of the fowl's thought and feeling.  The difference in geese, as
  discovered by this ingenious method, is considerable:  many are found
  to have only trivial and insignificant powers, but some are seen to be
  very great geese indeed.