GOOSING
Verb
goosing
present participle of goose
Source: Wiktionary
GOOSE
Goose, n.; pl. Geese. Etym: [OE. gos, AS. g, pl. g; akin to D. & G.
gans, Icel. gas, Dan. gaas, Sw. g, Russ. guse. OIr. geiss, L. anser,
for hanser, Gr. hamsa. sq. root233. Cf. Gander, Gannet, Ganza,
Gosling.] (Zoöl.)
1. Any large web-footen bird of the subfamily Anserinæ, 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 Ægyptiaca) and the African
spur-winged geese (Plectropterus) belong to the family
Plectropteridæ. The Australian semipalmated goose (Anseranas
semipalmata) and Cape Barren goose (Cereopsis Novæ-Hollandiæ) 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 (Zoöl.), 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.goose pimples and goose bumps -- Goose grass. (Bot.)
(a) A plant of the genus Galium (G. Aparine), a favorite food of
geese; -- called also catchweed and cleavers. (b) A species of
knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare). (c) The annual spear grass (Poa
annua).
– Goose neck, anything, as a rod of iron or a pipe, curved like the
neck of a goose; specially (Naut.), an iron hook connecting a spar
with a mast.
– Goose quill, a large feather or quill of a goose; also, a pen
made from it.
– Goose skin. See Goose flesh, above.
– Goose tongue (Bot.), a composite plant (Achillea ptarmica),
growing wild in the British islands.
– Sea goose. (Zoöl.) See Phalarope.
– Solan goose. (Zoöl.) See Gannet.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition