goose 
around a central open space, on which, at the beginning 
of the game, the stakes were laid, and during the game 
any forfeits paid. It was played by two or more persons 
with two dice, and the numbers that turned up to each 
designated the number of the compartment by which he 
might advance his mark or counter. It wascalled the game 
of goose because at every fourth and fifth compartment 
in succession a goose was depicted on the card, and, if the 
throw of the dice carried the counter of the player on a 
goose, he might move forward double the actual number 
thrown. Strutt. 
The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose. 
Goldsmith, Des. Vil., 1. 232. 
6. A piece used in the game of fox and geese. 
To play this game [fox and geese] there are seventeen 
?ieces, called geese, . . . and the fox in the middle. . . . 
he business of the game is to shut the fox up, so that he 
cannot move. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 418. 
African goose, a pure-bred variety of the goose, with a 
large horny knob at the base of the beak and a dewlap 
beneath the lower mandible. The general color is gray, 
darker above than beneath the body. The beak and the 
knob are black, and the shanks of a deep-orange color. 
Ammer-goose. See ember-goose. Bald goose the 
white-fronted goose, Anser albtfroiis, Bar-goose. Same 
as barnacle*, 1. [Essex, Eng.] Bar-headed goose, An- 
ser indinis, an Asiatic species. Bass-goose, solan- 
goose, names of the gannet, Sula bassana. Bay-goose, 
the common wild or gray goose. [Texas, U. S.] Black 
goose, the brent-goose. [Essex, Eng.] Blue or blue- 
winged goose, or blue snow-goose, Anser or Chen cae- 
rulescentt, a North American goose closely related to the 
snow-goose, and by some considered specifically identical, 
but having a variegated plumage in which bluish gray is 
contrasted with white. Also called Mtwwaoej/. Bremen 
goose. Same as Embden goose. Canada goose, Berni- 
cla canadensis, the common wild goose of North America, 
gray with black head, neck, feet, and tail, and large white 
cheek-patches and tail -coverts. See cut under Bernicla. 
Chinese goose, &gooae(Anser or Cygnopsis cygnoides) 
somewhat resembling a swan in form, often seen in do- 
mestication. It is a native of China and other Asiatic 
countries. There are two kinds, the brown and the white. 
The variety is distinguished by a curious hump at the base 
of the beak. See cut under Cygnopsis. Clatter-goose, 
the brent goose : so called from its noisiness. [East Lo- 
thian.] Common gray or wild goose, (a) The can- 
ada goose, Bernicla canadensis. [U7S.] Also called bay- 
goose, bustard, black-headed goose, Canada brent, cravat- 
goose, honker, and reef-goose, (b) The European graylag- 
goose. Corn-goose. Same as bean-goose. [Local, Eng.) 
Egyptian goose, a species of the genus Chenolopex. 
Embden goose, a tine variety of domestic goose with 
pure-white plumage and orange beak and legs. Emperor 
goose. Seeempenr. Eskimo goose, Hutchins's goose. 
Sir John Richardson. Flight-goose, Hutchins's goose. 
J. J. Audubon. (Maine, u. S.) Fox and geese. See 
,/o.rt . Gambo goose, a kind of spur-winged goose, Plec- 
tropterus gambrensis. Gray lag-goose. See graylag. 
Guinea goose, the Chinese goose or swan-goose : a mis- 
nomer. Horra goose, the brent-goose: so called from 
the numbers that frequent Horra Sound. 1'arrell. Also 
Uorie goose. [Shetland isles.] Hutchins's goose, Ber- 
nicla hutchinsi, a North American goose closely resem- 
bling the Canada goose, but smaller and with fewer tail- 
feathers. Also called piskashish and goose-brant. Lag- 
goose, the graylag (which see). Laughing goose, the 
, , 
white-fronted goose: so called from the conformation of 
the beak, which suggests grinning. Lesser Canada or 
little wild goose, Hutchins's goose. Links goose, the 
common sheldrake, which frequents the links or sandy 
places. [Orkney islands.] Mexican goose, the snow- 
goose. G. Trumbull. [Newport E. I., U. S.] Mother 
Carey's goose, the great black petrel or giant fulmar of 
the Pacific. See petrel. Painted goose, the emperor 
goose : so called from Pallas's nameof the bird, Anserpic- 
tus. Pink-footed goose, Anser brachyrhynchus, a Eu- 
ropean species : a book-name. Quink goose, the brent- 
goose. C. Swuinson. [Prov. Eng.] Bed goose, the snow- 
goose : so called from the color of the bill and feet Alex. 
Wilson, 1814. [New Jersey, U. S. ] Sebastopol goose, a 
curious variety of domestic goose, many of the feathers of 
which are curled and spirally twisted. Skeel goose, 
the common sheldrake, Tadorna cornuta. C. Swainson. 
[Scotland. ] Sly goose, the common sheldrake, Tadorna 
cornuta: so called from its craftiness. [Orkney islands.] 
Solan-goose. See bass-goose. Sound on the goose, 
orthodox as to opinions and sentiments ; on the popular 
side of apolitical, moral, or social discussion. [Slang, U. S.] 
To seek for political flaws is no use ; 
Bis opponents will find he is Bound on the goose. 
Providence Journal, June 18, 1867. 
Spectacled goose, the gannet or channel-goose : from 
the appearance of the bare lores. [Local, British.] Spur- 
winged goose, one of several geese of the genus Plectrop- 
terus. Texas goose, the snow-goose. Q.Trumbull. [New 
Jersey, U. S.) The goose hangs high [a slang phrase, 
said to have been orig. "the goose honks high," i. e., it 
cries (and flies) high : wild geese fly higher when the wea- 
ther is fine or promises to be fine], the prospects are bright ; 
everything is favorable. To cook one's goose. See 
w*i. Tortoise-shell goose, the European white-front- 
ed goose: so called from the speckled belly. [Ireland.] 
Toulouse goose, one of the largest and best varieties of 
the domestic goose, with the plumage of the upper parts 
in different shades of grayish-brown, and the under parts 
white. The legs and beak are of a dull-salmon color. 
Wavey or wavy goose. Same as wavey. White 
brent-goose, the snow-goose. [Western U. S.] White- 
cheeked goose, a goose with white cheeks, as most 
species of the genus Bernicla which are common in North 
America; a cravat-goose; specifically, B. leucoparia. 
White-faced goose, the white-fronted goose. [British.] 
White-fronted goose, a goose which has the base of 
the bill of the adult surrounded by white, as A. albifrons 
of Europe, or the very similar A. gambeli of North Amer- 
ica. White-headed goose, the blue goose. Wild- 
goose chase. See cAosei. Winter goose, Hutchins's 
goose. J. J. Audubon. [Maine, U. S.] Yellow-legged 
goose, the American white-fronted goose. [San Diego, 
2576 
California, U. S.] (See also barnacle-goose, bean-goose, 
brent-goose, channel-goose, cravat-goose, ember-goose, fen- 
goose, kelp-goose, marsh-goose, mud-goose, prairie-goose, 
rain-goose, reef-goose, snow-goose, swan-goose, tree-goose, 
upland-goose, ware-goose.) 
goose (go's), v. t.\ pret. and pp. goosed, ppr. 
goosing, \\gopse, .] To hiss at ; hiss down ; 
condemn by hissing. [Slang.] 
He was goosed last night, he was goosed the night be- 
fore last, he was goosed to-day. He has lately got in the 
way of being always goosed, and he can't stand it. 
Dickens, Hard Times, vL 
goose-arse (goVars), M. A low, sharp-sterned, 
schooner-rigged vessel, used in and about the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
gposebeak (gos'bek), n. A dolphin: so called 
from the shape of the snout. 
gooseberry (gos'- orgoz'ber'i), . and a. [Early 
mod. E. gooseberrie, gosberie ; not found earlier 
than 1570 (Levins); < goose + berry 1 ; prob. 
so called according to the common custom of 
naming plants, often without any obvious 
reason, after familiar birds and beasts; cf. 
goosebill, goose-corn, goosefoot, goosegog, goose- 
grass, goose-tansy, goosetongue, duckweed, crow- 
foot, crowberry, cowberry, cow-grass, cow-pea, 
etc. In another view, there is an allusion to the 
rough bristly surface of the berry, the compari- 
son being similar to that in goose-flesh, goose-skin. 
According to Skeat, gooseberry is prob. an accom. 
of an assumed "groseberry, < "grose, represented 
by E.dial.jrroser, Se.grosert,grossart,groset,gro- 
zet (see groser), + berry 1 . There is no evidence 
to support the conjecture that gooseberry is an 
accom. of an assumed "gossberry, < goss. a dial, 
form of gorse (in allusion to the bristly hairs of 
the fruit, or to the prickles on the bush itself; 
cf . the G. name stachelbeere, lit. ' prickleberry '), 
+ berry 1 .] I. n.; pi. gooseberries (-iz). 1. The 
berry or fruit of a plant of the genus Ribes, or 
the plant itself; in hot., a general term for the 
species of the genus Ribes which belong to the 
section Grossularia, as the name currant is ap- 
plied to those of the section Ribesia. They are 
thorny or prickly shrubs, and the fruit is usually hairy. 
The common cultivated gooseberry, /;/'., Grostularia, 
bearing the fruit of the same name, is a native of Europe 
and Asia. It is cultivated extensively in northern Europe, 
but succeeds only moderately in America ; and many varie- 
ties have been produced, the fruit differing in size, color, 
and quality, as well as in hairiness. The wild gooseberries 
of North America include several species, thefruit of which 
is rarely eaten. 
All the other gifts appertinent to man, as the malice of 
this age shapes them, are not worth a gooseberry. 
Shak.,2Hen. IV., L 2. 
2f. A silly person ; a goosecap. Goldsmith. 
American gooseberry, of Jamaica, the Heterotrichum 
niveuni, a melastomaceous shrub bearing a black hairy 
berry. Barbados or West Indian gooseberry, the Pe- 
renkia aculeata, acactaceous shrub bearing an edible berry. 
Cape gooseberry, the Physalis Peruvians, a native 
of tropical America, cultivated in India and elsewhere for 
the fruit, which is sometimes made into a preserve. 
Gooseberry fruit-worm. Seefruit-worm Oldgoose- 
berry, a phrase of no definite meaning, used in humor- 
ous emphasis or comparison, and probably originating as 
a substitute for a profane expression: as, to play old goose- 
berry (that is, to play the devil, to create great confusion) ; 
to lay on like alt gooseberry. [Slang.] 
She took to drinking, left off working, sold the furni- 
ture, pawned the clothes, and played old gooseberry. 
Dickens. 
You should have a tea-stick, and take them [dogs] by 
the tail . . . and lay on like old gooseberry. 
H. Kingsley, Hillyars and Burtons, Ixii. 
Otaheite gooseberry, the Phyllanthus distichus, a eu- 
phorbiaceous shrub of Java, cultivated in the tropics, its 
acid fruit being used for pickling. To play goose- 
berry, to accompany other persons, as lovers, for the 
sake of propriety. [Colloq. ] 
II. a. Relating to or made of gooseberries : 
as, gooseberry wine Gooseberry fool, an old Eng- 
lish dish made of pounded gooseberries and cream. See 
/oo(2, 2. Gooseberry wine, a kind of wine made in 
Great Britain from gooseberries. It is of pleasant flavor 
when properly prepared. 
gooseberry-moth (gos'ber'i-m6th), . Same as 
magpie-moth. 
goosebillt, . Same as goose-grass, 1. 
goose-bird (gos'berd), . The Hudsonian god- 
wit, Limosa hasmastica. [Local, New England.] 
goose-brant (gos'brant), n. Same as Hutchins's 
goose. J. P. Leach. [U. S.] 
gOOSecapt (gos'kap), . [< goose + cap, taken 
for 'head.' Cf. madcap.'] A silly person. 
Some of them prove such goose-caps by going thither, 
that they leave themselves no more feathers on their 
backs than a goose hath when she is plucked. 
The Great Frost (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 94X 
Not take me into a bond ! as good as you shall, good- 
man goosecap. Sliddleton, Michaelmas Term, ii. 3. 
goose-corn (gos'korn), n. A species of rush, 
Juncus squarrosus. 
goose-egg (gos'eg), n. In athletic and other 
contests, a zero, indicating a miss or failure to 
goose-skin 
score : from the resemblance of the zero-mark 
to an egg: called in Great Britain a duck's-egg, 
and in the United States sometimes a round (>. 
The New York players presented the Boston men with 
nine unpalatable goose eggs in their [base-ball] contest on 
the Polo Grounds yesterday. Neiv York Tiinex, July, 1886. 
goose-fish (Kos'fisk), n. The fishing-frog or 
angler, LopMnsjmcatorius. [Local, New Eng- 
land.] 
goose-flesh (gos'flesh), n. [< ME. (joseflesche; 
< goose + flesh.'] A rough condition of the skin, 
resembling that of a plucked goose, caused by 
the contraction of the erector muscles of the 
superficial hairs (arrectores pilorum), and in- 
duced by cold, fear, and other exciting causes. 
Also called goose-skin (and in New Latin cutis 
anserina). See horripilation., 
goosefoot (gos'fut), n. 1. A plant of some spe- 
cies of the genus Vhenopodium : so called from 
the shape of the leaves. 2. The formation of 
the facial nerve in spreading into a leash of 
nerves in three principal divisions after its exit 
from the stylomastoid foramen : translating the 
technical term pes anserinun Sea-goosefoot, the 
Suasda maritima, a fleshy chenopodiaceous plant of salt 
marshes. 
goose-footed (gos'fut"ed), a. Web-footed: ap- 
plied, for example, to the otter. 
goosegog (gos'gog), . A gooseberry. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
goose-grass (gos'gras), n. 1. Cleavers, a spe- 
cies of bedstraw, Galium Aparine. 2. The sil- 
verweed, Potentilla Anserina. 3. The darnel, 
Bromus mollis. 4. The doorweed, Polygonum 
iiriciilare. 
goose-green (gos'gren), a. or n. Of a yellowish- 
greennue like that of a young goose, or the hue 
itself. 
A delicate ballad o' the ferret and the coney, . . . 
Another of goose-green starch, and the devil. 
B. Jonson, Bartholomew fair, ii. 1. 
goose-gull (gos'gul), n. See gulp. 
goose-hawkt (g6s'hak), n. See goshawk. 
gopse-heiriffet. n . The goose-grass GaUum Apa 
rine. Cole, Adam in Eden. 
goose-herd (gos'herd), . [Also prov. Eng. goz- 
zerd.~\ One who takes care of geese. 
goose-house (gbs'hous), n. A parish cage, or 
small temporary prison. [Prov. Eng.] 
goose-mussel (gos'mus"!), . A barnacle. See 
Anatifa and Lepas, 
gooseneck (gSs'nek), n. 1. Naut. : (a) A sort 
of iron hook fitted to the inner end of a yard or 
Gooseneck of a Spanker-boom. 
boom, for temporary attachment to a clamp of 
iron or an eye-bolt, (b) A davit. 2. In mach., 
a pipe shaped like the letter S; a flexible cou- 
pling. 
A conducting tube, called a goose-neck, which it re- 
sembled in shape, placed on the mouth of the tubing at 
the top of the [flowing] well, conducted the oil to the 
wooden receiving tanks. Cone and Johns, Petrolia, p. 166. 
3. A nozle with a universal joint used on a 
fire-engine stand-pipe Quarter-turn gooseneck, 
a pipe-coupling with a bend of 90, used to connect a 
nozle with a discharge-pipe. 
goose-pimples (gos'pim"plz), n. pi. The pim- 
ples of goose-flesh. 
goose-quill (gos'kwil), n. One of the large 
feathers or quills of the goose, the barrels of 
which are cut to make writing-pens. 
goosery (go'ser-i), . ; pi. gooseries (-iz). [< 
goose + -ery.] 1. A place for the keeping of 
geese. 2. Silliness or stupidity like that at- 
tributed to the goose. 
There will not want divers plaine and solid men . . . 
who will soone look through and through both the lofty 
nakednesse of your Latinizing Babarian, and the flnicall 
goosery of your neat Sermon-actor. 
Jlilton, Apology for Smectymnuus. 
goose-skin (gos 'skin), n. 1. The skin of a 
goose. 2. A kind of thin soft leather resem- 
bling the "chicken-skin" used for gloves in 
the latter part of the eighteenth century. 
The ladies [at the hunt of Easter Monday, 1826] all wore 
a goose-skin nnderdress. Hone's Every-day Boole, II. 461. 
