gorge
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: gôj
ipa: /ɡɔːdʒ/
enpr: gôrj
ipa: /ɡɔɹd͡ʒ/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)dʒ
homophone: gorg
Forms: form: gorges
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 19, page 9:
glosses: The front aspect of the neck; the outside of the throat.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter IV, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN, page 124:
text: Gleam, a term uſed after a hawk hath caſt and gleameth, or throweth up filth from her gorge.
ref: 1800, “Gleam”, in The Sportsman’s Dictionary; or, The Gentleman’s Companion: For Town and Country. […], 4th edition, London: printed for G. G. and J. Robinson, […]; by R. Noble, […], →OCLC, column 1:
text: Then as it [a giant serpent] opened its gorge with a gasp,
 Darra his son made a running bound,
 And keeping his sharp skian firm in his grasp,
 Dived headlong into its throat profound.
ref: 1868 February 29, “Snorro” [pseudonym], “The Fenian Chase of Lough Derg”, in The Shamrock: A National Weekly Journal of Irish History, Literature, Arts, &c., volume III, number 74, Dublin: Printed and published at the office, 33, Lower Abbey-Street, →OCLC, page 354, column 2:
glosses: The inside of the throat; the esophagus, the gullet; (falconry, specifically) the crop or gizzard of a hawk.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: The throat of a flower.
examples: text: My gorge rises at the sight of it.
text: And like a Crane his [Gluttony's] necke was long and fyne,
 With which he ſwallow'd vp exceſſive feaſt,
 For want whereof poore people oft did pyne,
 And all the way, moſt like a brutiſh beaſt,
 He ſpued vp his gorge, that all did him deteaſt.
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 21, page 51:
text: Alas poore Yoricke, I knew him Horatio, a fellow of infinite ieſt, of moſt excellent fancie, hee hath bore me on his backe a thouſand times, and now how how abhorred in my imagination it is: my gorge riſes at it.
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
text: Now her worries about Charles Wallace and her disappointment in her father’s human fallibility rose like gorge in her throat.
ref: 1962, Madeleine L’Engle, “Aunt Beast”, in A Wrinkle in Time, New York, N.Y.: Ariel Books, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Ariel Books, 1973 printing, →ISBN, pages 187–188:
text: So Lyra clung to Pantalaimon and her head swam and her gorge rose, and cold as the night was, a sickly sweat moistened her flesh with something colder still.
ref: 1996 April, Philip Pullman, “Fencing”, in The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials; 1), 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN; trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014, →ISBN, page 214:
glosses: Food that has been taken into the gullet or the stomach, particularly if it is regurgitated or vomited out.
examples: text: an ice gorge in a river
text: An ice gorge had formed in the bed of the river at the head of the island and from bank to bank logs, driftwood, broken ice and giant floes were packed and jammed so tightly as to resist the action of the mighty current.
ref: 1903, Zane Grey, chapter VII, in Betty Zane, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC, page 133:
glosses: A choking or filling of a channel or passage by an obstruction; the obstruction itself.
examples: text: 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.
ref: [1764, Temple Henry Croker, Thomas Williams, Samuel Clark [et al.], “GORGE”, in The Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. …, volume I, London: Printed for the authors, and sold by J. Wilson & J. Fell, […]; J. Fletcher & Co., […]; J. Coote, […]; Cambridge: Mess. Fletcher & Hodson; Dublin: W. Smith & Co., →OCLC, column 1:
topics: architecture
glosses: A concave moulding; a cavetto.
examples: text: 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; […]
ref: 1745, “Half Moon”, in An Introduction to the Art of Fortification. […], London: Printed for and sold by John Brindley, […], →OCLC, column 1:
text: Ramps lead from the gorges of the bastions down to these outlets into the main ditch. […] To keep open the communication between the bastions, a gallery between their gorges is made along the curtain wall.
ref: 1874, D[ennis] H[art] Mahan, “Modifications Proposed in the Bastioned System”, in J. B. Wheeler, editor, An Elementary Course of Permanent Fortification, for the Use of the Cadets of the U.S. Military Academy, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: John Wiley & Son, […], →OCLC, paragraph 236, page 127:
text: Construction on this massive fort was never completed. […] Only the foundations and a few tiers of stone were completed on the two gorge walls and the gorge bastion. At this point, a significant modification in design was made. […] In this way, the gorge of the fort was closed at minimum expense.
ref: 2018 June, John R. Weaver II, “New York City”, in A Legacy in Brick and Stone: American Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, 1816–1867, 2nd edition, McLean, Va.: Redoubt Press, McGovern Publishing, →ISBN, page 164, column 1:
topics: architecture
fortification
fortifications
government
military
politics
war
glosses: 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.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2001, Frederick Matthew Wiseman, “The Land Becomes Warm: The Years of the Log Ships (6,500 to 1,000 Winters Ago)”, in The Voice of the Dawn: An Autohistory of the Abenaki Nation, Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, →ISBN, pages 44–45:
text: Examining this piece of worked stone, which once belonged to a prehistoric man living in that valley, we find it fairly well polished, though the action of countless years has slightly "weathered" or disintegrated its once smooth surface. In the center, a groove has been cut, and the ends of the stone rise slightly from the middle. It is rather crescent-shaped. It must have been tied to a line, and this stone gorge was covered with a bait; the fish swallowed it, and, the gorge coming crosswise with the gullet, the fish was captured. […] In the Swiss lakes are found the remains of the Lacustrine dwellers. Among the many implements discovered are fish-gorges made of bronze wire. When these forms are studied, the fact must be recognized at once that they follow, in shape and principle of construction, the stone gorges of the Neolithic period.
ref: 2010, Barnet Phillips, “The Primitive Fish-hook”, in Nick Lyons, editor, The Best Fishing Stories Ever Told, New York, N.Y.: Skyhorse Publishing, →ISBN, part I (Early Days—of It and Us), page 7:
topics: fishing
hobbies
lifestyle
glosses: 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.
examples: text: 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; […]
ref: 1873 February, H[enry] B[enedict] Medlicott, “Sketch of the Geology of the North-west Provinces”, in Records of the Geological Survey of India, volume VI, part 1, Calcutta: Printed for the Government of India; London: Trübner and Co., →OCLC, page 10:
text: As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm. Here and there are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests.
ref: 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter II, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:
text: Our part of the veranda did not hang over the gorge, but edged the meadow where half a dozen large and sleek horses had stopped grazing to join us.
ref: 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 7, in Crime out of Mind, New York, N.Y.: I. Washburn, →OCLC, →OL:
topics: geography
natural-sciences
synonyms: canyon
glosses: A deep, narrow passage with steep, rocky sides, particularly one with a stream running through it; a ravine.
examples: text: 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,[…].
ref: 1761 May, “Elements of Philosophy, […] Illustrating the Mechanical Powers of Balances, Levers, Pulleys, &c. and Some Observations as to the Center of Gravity and Equilibres. [Of Pulleys and Moufles or Mousled Pulleys.]”, in The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure: […], volume CXCV, number XXVIII, London: Published […] [b]y John Hinton […], →OCLC, page 256, column 1:
text: A cord, in passing round a pulley, lies in a groove, sometimes called the gorge of the pulley; if the object of the pulley is merely to support, guide, or strain the cord, the gorge may be considerably wider than the cord; if the pulley is to drive or to be driven by the cord, so as to transmit motive power, the gorge must in general fit the cord closely, or even be of a triangular shape, so as to hold it tight.
ref: 1869, William John Macquorn Rankine, “Of Elementary Combinations in Mechanism”, in A Manual of Machinery and Millwork, London: Charles Griffin and Company, […], →OCLC, part I (Geometry of Machinery), section V (Connection by Bands), paragraph 172, page 187:
topics: engineering
mechanical
mechanical-engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: The groove of a pulley.
examples: text: The heraldic name for whirlpools is gorges, and a mediaeval family called Gorges bore a whirlpool as its arms.
ref: 1966, Charles Mackinnon of Dunakin, chapter 5, in The Observer's Book of Heraldry, London: Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., page 77:
topics: government
heraldry
hobbies
lifestyle
monarchy
nobility
politics
synonyms: gurge
glosses: A whirlpool used as a heraldic charge.
Derived terms: circle of the gorge
gorge circle
gorge fishing
gorge hook
gorgelet
gorge-walking
Little Colorado River Gorge
Royal Gorge
The Gorge
Related terms: gorget
gorgeted