as in to sting
to charge (someone) too much for goods or services
since I had forgotten the sunscreen, I was forced to buy it from the concession stand at the beach—where they gouged me for it
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Recent Examples of gouge
Sally Pipes, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Inspect the trunk to make sure there aren’t any major gouges to the bark.
—Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 2 July 2025
Walden Green, Pitchfork, 19 Sep. 2025
Successive hurricanes had gouged a hole in the Sunshine State, leaving several private carriers insolvent — and leaving hundreds of thousands of their customers with no choice but Citizens.
—Mario Ariza, ProPublica, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gouge
Verb
PBMs actively exploit this lack of price transparency to gouge patients and employers alike.
—Sally Pipes, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Inspect the trunk to make sure there aren’t any major gouges to the bark.
—Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 2 July 2025
Noun
Predatory resellers - including Live Nation itself - should no longer be allowed to gouge and deceive fans under the guise of access to live music.
—Walden Green, Pitchfork, 19 Sep. 2025
Successive hurricanes had gouged a hole in the Sunshine State, leaving several private carriers insolvent — and leaving hundreds of thousands of their customers with no choice but Citizens.
—Mario Ariza, ProPublica, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gouge
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gouge
Verb
-
The Chiefs have been on the wrong side of fourth-quarter closeness this year (0-3 after Monday night’s slippery loss, which had to sting).—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
-
The production was plagued by hurricanes, tsunami warnings, stinging jellyfish and several injuries — including Costner, who almost died while riding out a storm stranded atop a mast after his safety line had snapped.—
Peter Kiefer,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
But something is definitely afoul; the corpses of pilgrims wound in silk clutter the hollows and even the ones that still live are either sad or flat-out nuts.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Detractors wondered if the unending positivity was beneficial in the locker room, if the optimism was starting to ring hollow.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
It would be accompanied by state audits into how spendthrift local governments overcharge for roads, school construction and parks.—
Stephen Moore,
Boston Herald,
19 Sep. 2025
-
California is the biggest target after the state self-reported overcharging the federal government for health care services delivered to immigrants without legal status, determined to be at least $500 million, spurring the threat of a lawsuit.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The Blue Jays never let Rodón get into a groove.—
Brendan Kuty,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
-
But in his extended scene with Leto’s Ares, the two cool dudes groove on each other’s mystique, leaving Flynn tickled to witness his prediction of an AI-human interface coming to pass.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But things got particularly ugly in the most recent reunion episode, in which Adriana de Moura not only leaned on lesbophobic and biphobic rhetoric, but also claimed that Julia Lemigova (who is famously married to renowned TERF Martina Navratilova) has been cheating for years.—
James Factora,
Them.,
10 Oct. 2025
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Then de Moura decided to drop a few bombshells of her own, accusing her former bestie of not just cheating with her but with two men.—
Madeleine Marr,
Miami Herald,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Henry had separated and broken ribs on his right side, blood on the left side of his rib cage, and light puncture marks on his stomach, as well as severe internal bleeding, according to a police report.—
Minyvonne Burke,
NBC news,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Henry, 5, suffered internal bleeding and puncture wounds, court documents allege, WSB-TV 2 reports.—
KC Baker,
PEOPLE,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
But last month, SpaceX raised the demand surcharge to $500, then $750 before finally escalating it to an eye-popping $1,000.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
21 July 2025
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That surcharge alone erodes a meaningful slice of Qatar’s margin advantage over Henry-Hub-linked U.S. cargoes and is already pencilled into 2026 LNG tender models.—
Güney Yıldız,
Forbes.com,
8 July 2025
Noun
-
Sanchez was hospitalized with stab wounds to his upper right torso, according to a police affidavit.—
Jessica Coacci,
Fortune,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Reuters reported that Stalzer had stab wounds to the neck and abdomen, and that she was airlifted to a local hospital for emergency care.—
Sean Neumann,
PEOPLE,
8 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gouge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gouge. Accessed 13 Oct. 2025.
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