as in stung
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 gouged
The department was able to give back about $103,891 in restitution to the tenant who was gouged, Carbajal said.
—
Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 25 Feb. 2026
Scheffler pushed his drive into the right fairway bunker on the par-4, could only advance the ball 54 yards into the left rough and gouged his third shot short of the green.
—John Marshall, Baltimore Sun, 5 Feb. 2026
After getting gouged repeatedly by bootleg play-action passes, screens and space plays over their first two series, the Pats struck back with a short-yardage stop and forced fumble on the next two series.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 6 Jan. 2026
At Dia, the cage has been reconstructed in full, complete with Hsieh’s boots and his tally marks gouged into the wall.
—Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 7 Nov. 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
But a low spot in the ocean, a channel gouged down into the sand on the ocean surface, or a break in a sandbar, can disrupt that flow and push water through the spot to create a current much more powerful than the surrounding flow.
—Jennifer Borresen, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2025
The greedy people will get theirs when people get fed up with being gouged at every turn.
—Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2025
To the left of the falls, gouged halfway up the cliff face, was a cave.
—Peter Heller, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Jan. 2024
Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 25 Feb. 2026
Scheffler pushed his drive into the right fairway bunker on the par-4, could only advance the ball 54 yards into the left rough and gouged his third shot short of the green.
—John Marshall, Baltimore Sun, 5 Feb. 2026
After getting gouged repeatedly by bootleg play-action passes, screens and space plays over their first two series, the Pats struck back with a short-yardage stop and forced fumble on the next two series.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 6 Jan. 2026
At Dia, the cage has been reconstructed in full, complete with Hsieh’s boots and his tally marks gouged into the wall.
—Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 7 Nov. 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
But a low spot in the ocean, a channel gouged down into the sand on the ocean surface, or a break in a sandbar, can disrupt that flow and push water through the spot to create a current much more powerful than the surrounding flow.
—Jennifer Borresen, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2025
The greedy people will get theirs when people get fed up with being gouged at every turn.
—Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2025
To the left of the falls, gouged halfway up the cliff face, was a cave.
—Peter Heller, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Jan. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gouged
Verb
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Further down the supply chain, former Army Ranger Patrick Montgomery, who runs KC Cattle Company, located outside Kansas City, Missouri, has been stung by high prices.—
Bloomberg Wire,
Dallas Morning News,
18 Feb. 2026
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Further down the supply chain, former Army Ranger Patrick Montgomery, who runs KC Cattle Company, located outside Kansas City, Missouri, has been stung by high prices.—
Enda Curran,
Fortune,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Some people like to vote on election day, said Dianne Clinkscale from Dallas, arguing that the county’s voters got cheated out their right on to vote.—
Harrison Mantas,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 Mar. 2026
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Visitors to the sites at Independence Park were cheated when they were cut off from facts that enable us to imagine ourselves in the lives of those who lived and worked there.—
Carol Quillen,
Time,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Instead of swift passage on Wednesday, the proposal has become a new flashpoint in a sensitive discussion over police-community relations, with some event organizers questioning why community groups who feel overcharged by the police should have to appeal to the same department for subsidies.—
Frederick Melo,
Twin Cities,
6 Feb. 2026
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The lawsuit alleges diabetic Iowans have been overcharged millions of dollars a year and cut off from affordable insulin.—
Kyle Werner,
Des Moines Register,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The regime has armed, trained, and funded terrorist militias that have soaked the earth with blood and guts.—
Efrat Lachter,
FOXNews.com,
28 Feb. 2026
-
Sepp Straka wound up winning by one shot, and Lowry wound up getting soaked.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gouged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gouged. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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