goose

Definitions

1. 1.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.
2. 2.A tailor's smoothing iron, so called from its handle, which resembles the neck of a goose.
3. 3.A silly creature; a simpleton.
4. 4.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 (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

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• What is a tailor's smoothing iron, so called from its handle, which resembles the neck of a goose called?