as in to sting
to charge (someone) too much for goods or services
since I had forgotten the sunscreen, I was forced to buy it from the concession stand at the beach—where they gouged me for it
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Recent Examples of gouge
Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2025
For example, a rock just 11 pounds (5 kilograms) in mass can gouge a crater more than 30 feet (9 meters) wide and eject over 75 metric tons of lunar soil and rock, according to NASA.
—Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 4 Nov. 2025
David Matthews, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2025
PBMs actively exploit this lack of price transparency to gouge patients and employers alike.
—Sally Pipes, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gouge
Verb
At Dia, the cage has been reconstructed in full, complete with Hsieh’s boots and his tally marks gouged into the wall.
—Noun
Others had gouge marks consistent with being struck with a cable or a chain.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for gouge
Verb
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But the Chiefs not being in the playoffs still stings.—
-
But a lackluster performance during that fall's vice presidential debate did little to help the party avoid stinging losses in November 2024.—
Noun
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Objections to coercion in the South China Sea ring hollow.—
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But Pezeshkian doesn’t control the security forces, so these pronouncements ring hollow.—
Verb
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After the Boynton Beach location changed hands in 2021, the new owners discovered that insurance companies had been billed and over 80 patients had been charged for work that was not performed or overcharged, according to the affidavit, many of them 65 or older.—
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Best Care was previously accused in civil court of fraudulently billing or overcharging the federal government for healthcare services that were never actually performed.—
Noun
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And Sims is just starting to get into his basketball groove, after starring as a linebacker, running back and wide receiver for the Newington football team, which advanced to the Class MM semifinal for the second straight year.—
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Another frequent collaborator, Selena Gomez, has found her groove with Walsh as well.—
Verb
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The Hoosiers are probably cheating.—
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Contessa’s Corner Sports leagues, state gambling regulators and tribal leaders have all raised concerns that prediction market trades on sports don’t have the same level of guardrails as sportsbooks to protect against cheating by athletes, referees, coaches and other insiders.—
Noun
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Over the course of the season, Tommy and his father slowly tighten their bond, a process punctuated with darkly comic lines that both puncture and reflect Thornton’s and Elliott’s undeniable chemistry and gravitas.—
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However, that mindset wasn't always the case for Shiffrin, who suffered a violent crash during a giant slalom (GS) Women's World Cup race in November 2024 that resulted in a five-centimeter deep puncture wound to her abdomen, just one millimeter shy of her colon.—
Verb
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Annual watercraft surcharges funding efforts to prevent the spread of invasive species are set to increase in 2026 from $10.60 to anywhere between $14 and $62, according to House Public Information Services.—
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Merchants would gain surcharging flexibility and those that accept one of a network’s credit cards would no longer have to accept all of them.—
Noun
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The younger man had at least one stab wound to his neck, police said.—
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Inside the home, officers discovered three bodies, all of them dead from apparent stab wounds.—
Cite this Entry
“Gouge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gouge. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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