goose

Any of various grazing waterfowl of the family Anatidae, which have feathers and webbed feet and are capable of flying, swimming, and walking on land, and which are generally bigger than ducks.countableuncountable

• There is a flock of geese on the pond.

A female goose.countableuncountable

• Ganders and geese are at their best for stock from two to ten years old. They live to a great age—it is stated to thirty or more years—but after ten years they cannot be reckoned upon as reliable assets on a farm. Two years old is the best

The flesh of the goose used as food.uncountable

• Mrs. Cratchit made the gravy (ready beforehand in a little saucepan) hissing hot; Master Peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigour; Miss Belinda sweetened up the apple-sauce; Martha dusted the hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim beside him

A silly person.countableslanguncountable

• I'm sorry for you, but you're such a goose.
• Have you stopped to think, you gooses, that Andy might not wish you to give it away?

A tailor's iron, heated in live coals or embers, used to press fabrics.archaiccountableuncountable

• Come in, tailor. Here you may roast your goose.

A young woman or girlfriend.South-Africacountabledated

An old English board game in which players moved counters along a board, earning a double move when they reached the picture of a goose.historicaluncountable

To sharply poke or pinch the buttocks, or prod between the buttocks (of a person).slangtransitive

• The witness stand. Goldminers giving evidence, sure he's violent didn't I see him with my own peepers chasing those poor kids up on the roof and he goosed my wife last Christmas. Violently. Just a forceful nudge of the knee.
• Here are the three strange men have exposed themselves to me, the two obscene phone callers, the time I was goosed by an employer.

To stimulate; to spur.slangtransitive

• Almost everyone in McKay’s impossibly starry cast feels like they’re jumping into the SNL host role, game for some light comedic lifting while waiting for the pros to show up and goose the laughs.
• The ensuing snarknado also seemed to goose the TV ratings. Hundreds of thousands of viewers switched on the movie after it began, suggesting that they’d gotten wind through Twitter of the bananas spectacle that was unfolding.

To gently accelerate (a vehicle); to give repeated, small taps on the accelerator of (a vehicle); to feather the throttle of (a vehicle).slangtransitive

Of private-hire taxi drivers, to pick up a passenger who has not booked a cab, in violation of UK licensing conditions.UKslang

To hiss (a performer) off the stage.slangtransitive