Meaning & use
gorge
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Meanings
nouncountable
A deep, narrow valley with steep rock walls, usually cut by a river.
Grammar: Used for places: the river runs through a gorge.
Patterns
- a gorge in something
- a gorge of something
The river rushes through a gorge at the edge of town.
We hiked along the rim of the gorge.
A narrow bridge crosses the gorge.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To eat a large amount of food greedily, until completely full.
Grammar: Often reflexive or with on: gorge yourself, gorge on cake.
Patterns
- gorge on something
- gorge yourself on something
The kids gorged on popcorn during the movie.
We gorged ourselves at the buffet.
He gorged until he felt ill.
nounsingularliteraryold-fashioned
The throat, or the contents of the stomach, used mostly in the expression about disgust.
Grammar: Old-fashioned; mostly found in my gorge rises.
Patterns
- gorge rises
My gorge rose at the sight of the spoiled food.
The smell made his gorge rise.
The cruelty of the scene made her gorge rise.
Word forms
| plural | gorges |
|---|---|
| third person singular | gorges |
| past tense | gorged |
| past participle | gorged |
| -ing form | gorging |
Common combinations
- deep gorge
- A deep gorge cuts through the plateau.
- river gorge
- The river gorge is a popular hiking spot.
- gorge on
- Do not gorge on sweets before dinner.
- gorge yourself
- We gorged ourselves on pasta after the race.
- gorge rises
- My gorge rises whenever I see waste.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ravine
- Ravine is usually smaller and less steep-sided than a gorge.
- canyon
- Canyon is wider and bigger, and is more common in North America.
- gulch
- Gulch is a small, dry ravine, used chiefly in the American West.
- stuff
- As a verb, stuff yourself is informal and humorous, while gorge sounds stronger and greedier.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: gorge or gorgeous? gorge or gorse?
gorge vs gorgeous
Gorgeous means beautiful and has nothing to do with eating or valleys.
gorge vs gorse
Gorse is a spiny shrub with yellow flowers.
Practice
After the long hike, the whole group ____ themselves on pizza.
Choose one answer.
Gorged themselves on means ate greedily until full. Gouged means dug or scooped out, so it does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gorge”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.