gavage

noun

ga·​vage gə-ˈväzh How to pronounce gavage (audio)
gä-
: introduction of material into the stomach by a tube

Examples of gavage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The $30 million, seven-year project involved experiments on 3,800 rats, exposing part of the group to BPA using the controversial oral gavage technique (a horrific process in which animals are dosed with chemicals by sticking feeding tubes down their throats). Katherine Gallagher, Treehugger, 29 June 2023 However, foie gras critics rebuke that this is a ridiculous excuse, and that the birds are clearly harmed by the gavage. Elsbeth Sites, Discover Magazine, 24 Feb. 2015 Foie gras is made from duck or goose livers fattened through a force-feeding process called gavage—administering gradually larger amounts of feed through a small tube in the bird’s throat. Megan Keller, WSJ, 19 Dec. 2022 In vivo evidence demonstrates that gavage feeding the honeysuckle decoction leads to a significant elevation of MIR2911 in mouse blood and lung. Chao Yan, Scientific American, 17 June 2020 The buttery duck or goose liver typically comes to the plate courtesy of a controversial process known as gavage, which sees birds force-fed multiple times a day to increase the richness of the pâté. Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 16 July 2021 Individual videos or accounts matter less than categories or memes; at the moment, my feed is mostly clips of skateboarding, cooking, and carpentry, not unlike the mundanity of the Netflix shows but also accelerated into media gavage. Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2020 The way he was fed was by continuous gavage (tube feeding). Annie Lane, oregonlive, 12 Feb. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gavage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French, from gaver to stuff, force-feed, from Middle French dialect (Picardy) gave gullet, crop

First Known Use

1889, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gavage was in 1889

Dictionary Entries Near gavage

Cite this Entry

“Gavage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gavage. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

Medical Definition

gavage

noun
ga·​vage gə-ˈväzh, gä- How to pronounce gavage (audio)
: introduction of material into the stomach by a tube
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