Goose
(Goose) n.; pl. Geese [OE. gos, AS. gos, pl. ges; akin to D. & G. gans, Icel. gas, Dan.
gaas, Sw. gås, Russ. guse. OIr. geiss, L. anser, for hanser, Gr. chh`n, Skr. ha&msdotsa. &radic233.
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.
The common domestic goose is believed to have been derived from the European graylag goose The
bean goose 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.
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 — Goose feast, Michaelmas.
[Colloq. Eng.] — Goose flesh, a peculiar roughness of the skin produced by cold or fear; — called
also goose skin. — Goose grass. (Bot.) (a) A plant of the genus Galium a favorite food of geese; —
called also catchweed and cleavers. (b) A species of knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare). (c) The
annual spear grass — 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 growing wild in the British islands. — Sea goose. (Zoöl.) See Phalarope.
— Solan goose. (Zoöl.) See Gannet.
Gooseberry
(Goose"ber*ry) n.; pl. Gooseberries [Corrupted for groseberry or groiseberry, fr. OF.
groisele, F. groseille, — of German origin; cf. G. krausbeere, kräuselbeere D. kruisbes, kruisbezie
(as if crossberry, fr. kruis cross; for kroesbes, kroesbezie, fr. kroes crisp), Sw. krusbär (fr. krus,
krusing, crisp). The first part of the word is perh. akin to E. curl. Cf. Grossular, a.]
1. (Bot.) Any thorny shrub of the genus Ribes; also, the edible berries of such shrub. There are several
species, of which Ribes Grossularia is the one commonly cultivated.
2. A silly person; a goose cap. Goldsmith.
Barbadoes gooseberry, a climbing prickly shrub (Pereskia aculeata) of the West Indies, which bears
edible berries resembling gooseberries. — Coromandel gooseberry. See Carambola. — Gooseberry
fool. See lst Fool. — Gooseberry worm (Zoöl.), the larva of a small moth It destroys the gooseberry
by eating the interior.
