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goose

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goose

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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}.]  (Zo["o]l.) 
  1.  Any  large  web-footen  bird  of  the  subfamily  {Anserin[ae]}, 
  and  belonging  to  {Anser},  {Branta},  {Chen},  and  several 
  allied  genera.  See  {Anseres}. 
 
  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}. 
 
  2.  Any  large  bird  of  other  related  families,  resembling  the 
  common  goose. 
 
  Note:  The  Egyptian  or  fox  goose  ({Alopochen  [AE]gyptiaca}) 
  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. 
 
  3.  A  tailor's  smoothing  iron,  so  called  from  its  handle, 
  which  resembles  the  neck  of  a  goose. 
 
  4.  A  silly  creature;  a  simpleton. 
 
  5.  A  game  played  with  counters  on  a  board  divided  into 
  compartments,  in  some  of  which  a  goose  was  depicted. 
 
  The  pictures  placed  for  ornament  and  use  The  twelve 
  good  rules  the  royal  game  of  goose.  --Goldsmith. 
 
  {A  wild  goose  chase},  an  attempt  to  accomplish  something 
  impossible  or  unlikely  of  attainment. 
 
  {Fen  goose}.  See  under  {Fen}. 
 
  {Goose  barnacle}  (Zo["o]l.),  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  flesh},  a  peculiar  roughness  of  the  skin  produced  by 
  cold  or  fear;  --  called  also  {goose  skin}. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  goose 
  n  1:  web-footed  long-necked  typically  gregarious  migratory 
  aquatic  birds  usually  larger  and  less  aquatic  than  ducks 
  2:  a  stupid  fool  [syn:  {fathead},  {goof},  {jackass},  {cuckoo}, 
  {zany}] 
  3:  flesh  of  a  goose  (domestic  or  wild) 
 
  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.




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