Dictionary:

goose

  (gūs)

1. 1. Any of various wild or domesticated water birds of the family Anatidae, and especially of the genera Anser and Branta, characteristically having a shorter neck than that of a swan and a shorter, more pointed bill than that of a duck.
   2. The female of such a bird.
   3. The flesh of such a bird used as food.
2. Informal. A silly person.
3. pl. goos·es. A tailor's pressing iron with a long curved handle.
4. Slang. A poke, prod, or pinch between or on the buttocks.

1. To poke, prod, or pinch (a person) between or on the buttocks.
2. To move to action; spur: goosed the governor to sign the tax bill.
3. To give a spurt of fuel to (a car, for example); cause to accelerate quickly. “The pilot goosed his craft, powering away” (Nicholas Proffitt).

[Middle English goos, from Old English gōs.]

Domesticated water-fowl, Anser anser. A 150-g portion is a rich source of protein, iron, vitamins B₂, B₆, B₁₂, and niacin; a good source of vitamin B₁, copper, and zinc; contains more than 30 g of fat, of which one-third is saturated; supplies 470 kcal (1970  kJ).

Any of many species of large, web-footed, wild or domestic birds. Geese are much larger than ducks, weighing from 5 to 18 pounds, compared to 3 to 5¹/₂ pounds for a duck. The female of the species is simply known as a goose, a male as a gander, and a young goose-of whichever sex-as a gosling. Geese were bred in ancient Egypt, China and India. The Romans revered them because it was a noisy gaggle of geese that alerted 4th-century b.c. Romans that the enemy Gauls were about to attack. Geese are immensely popular in Europe, where they're traditional Christmas holiday fare in many countries. They're also renowned for two French specialties-foie gras, the creamy-rich enlarged liver from force-fed geese, and confit, goose cooked and preserved in its own fat. Because geese are so fatty, they have not achieved the same popularity in America and therefore, though they're domesticated, have never been mass-marketed. The U.S. Government grades the quality of geese with USDA classifications A, B and C. The highest grade is A, and is generally what is found in markets. Grade B geese are less meaty and well finished; those that are grade C are not usually available to the consumer. The grade stamp can usually be found within a shield on the package wrapping. Most geese marketed in the United States are frozen and can be purchased throughout the year. A frozen bird's packaging should be tight and unbroken. The goose should be thawed in the refrigerator and can take up to 2 days to defrost, depending on the size of the bird. Do not refreeze goose once it's been thawed. Fresh geese can be found in some specialty markets and are available from early summer through December. When available, buy goslings (the smaller the better) because they are the most tender. One way to determine age is to check the goose's bill; if it's pliable, the bird is still young. Choose a goose that is plump, with a good fatty layer and skin that is clean and unblemished. Store loosely covered in the coldest section of the refrigerator 2 to 3 days. Remove and store separately any giblets in the body cavity. Because geese have so much fat, they are best roasted. Larger, older birds are tougher and therefore should be cooked using a moist-heat method, such as braising. The fat derived from roasting a goose is prized by many cooks as a cooking fat. Goose benefits from being served with a tart fruit sauce, which helps offset any fatty taste. Geese are high in calories but are a good source of protein and iron. See also game birds.

noun

One deficient in judgment and good sense: ass, fool, idiot, imbecile, jackass, mooncalf, moron, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, simple, simpleton, softhead, tomfool. Informal dope, gander. Slang cretin, ding-dong, dip, goof, jerk, nerd, schmo, schmuck, turkey. See ability/inability.

Idioms beginning with goose:
goose egg

See also cook someone's goose; gone coon (goose); kill the goose that laid the golden eggs; sauce for the goose; wild goose chase.

For more information on goose, visit Britannica.com.

Pl. geese; a web-footed, long-necked bird of the family Anatidae. Domestic geese were derived from the wild goose, Anser anser. There are many other species in this genus and in the other Branta genus of geese, of which Branta canadensis is typical.
Popular domestic breeds include emden, toulouse.

• g. body louse — see trinoton anserinum.
• g. enteritis — a parvovirus infection.
• g. hepatitis — occurs only in goslings less than 4 weeks old and caused by goose parvovirus. Affected birds have conjunctivitis, nasal discharge and polydipsia, huddle together and die. Postmortem findings include hepatitis and myocarditis. Called also gosling hepatitis, gosling plague.
• g. honk — see goose honk cough.
• g. influenza — see Riemerella anatipestifer. Called also infectious serositis, new duck disease.
• g. parvovirus infection — see goose hepatitis (above).
• g. plague — see goose hepatitis (above).
• g. septicemia — a fatal septicemia caused by Borrelia (Treponema) anserina and transmitted by the tick Argas persicus.
• slender g. louse — anaticola anseris.
• g. venereal disease — an apparently infectious disease of ganders with an uncertain etiology, causing necrosis and scarring of the phallus, making reproduction impossible.

n.

A bird that supplies quills for writing. These, by some occult process of nature, are penetrated and suffused with various degrees of the bird's intellectual energies and emotional character, so that when inked and drawn mechanically across paper by a person called an "author," there results a very fair and accurate transcript of the fowl's thought and feeling. The difference in geese, as discovered by this ingenious method, is considerable: many are found to have only trivial and insignificant powers, but some are seen to be very great geese indeed.

"Geese" redirects here. For the SNK character, see Geese Howard.

Goose
Canada Goose
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae Subfamily: Anserinae

Goose (plural geese, male gander(s)) is the English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than geese, and ducks, which are smaller.

This article deals with the true geese in the subfamily Anserinae, tribe Anserini. A number of other waterbirds, mainly related to the shelducks, have "goose" as part of their name, excluding the Hamish.

True geese are medium to large birds, always (with the exception of the Nēnē) associated to a greater or lesser extent with water. Most species in Europe, Asia and North America are strongly migratory as wild birds, breeding in the far north and wintering much further south. However, escapes and introductions have led to resident feral populations of several species.

Geese have been domesticated for centuries. In the West, farmyard geese are descended from the Greylag, but in Asia the Swan Goose has been farmed for at least as long.

All geese eat a largely vegetarian diet, and can become pests when flocks feed on arable crops or inhabit ponds or grassy areas in urban environments. They also take invertebrates if the opportunity presents itself; domestic geese will try out most novel food items for edibility.

Geese usually mate for life, though a small number will "divorce" and remate. They tend to lay a smaller number of eggs than ducks but both parents protect the nest and young, which usually results in a higher survival rate for the young geese.

True geese

White goose

The following are the living genera of true geese:

• Anser - Grey Geese, including the domesticated goose and the Swan Goose

• Chen - White Geese (often included in Anser)
• Branta - Black Geese, such as the Canada goose

The following two genera are only tentatively placed in the Anserinae; they may belong to the shelducks or form a subfamily on their own:

• Cereopsis - Cape Barren Goose
• Cnemiornis - New Zealand Geese (prehistoric)

In addition, there are some goose-like birds known from subfossil remains found on the Hawaiian Islands. See Anserinae for more.

Other species called "geese"

There are a number of mainly southern hemisphere birds called "geese", most of which belong to the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae. These are:

• Blue-winged Goose, Cyanochen cyanopterus
• Orinoco Goose, Neochen jubata
• Egyptian Goose, Alopochen aegyptiacus
• The South American sheldgeese, genus Chloephaga
• The prehistoric Madagascar Sheldgoose, Centrornis majori, the "Woodard"

A genus of prehistorically extinct seaducks, Chendytes, is sometimes called "diving-geese" due to their large size.

The Spur-winged Goose, Plectropterus gambensis, is most closely related to the shelducks, but distinct enough to warrant its own subfamily, the Plectropterinae.

The three perching ducks in the genus Nettapus are named "pygmy geese", such as the Cotton Pygmy Goose, Nettapus javanica.

The unusual Magpie-goose is in a family of its own, the Anseranatidae.

The Northern Gannet, a seabird, is also known as the Solan Goose although it is unrelated to the true geese.

Etymology

Canada Goose gosling

Goose in its origins is one of the oldest words of the Indo-European languages (Crystal), the modern names deriving from the proto-Indo-European root, ghans, hence Sanskrit hamsa (feminine hamsii), Latin anser, Greek khén etc.

In the Germanic languages, the root word led to Old English gos with the plural gés, German Gans and Old Norse gas. Other modern derivatives are Russian gus and Old Irish géiss; the family name of the cleric Jan Hus is derived from the Czech derivative husa.

In non-technical use, the male goose is called a "gander" (Anglo-Saxon gandra) and the female is the "goose" (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)); young birds before fledging are known as "goslings". A group of geese on the ground is called a gaggle; when flying in formation, it is called a wedge or a skein. See also List of collective nouns for birds.

See also

Greylag Geese

• Angel Wing - A disease common in geese.
• Domesticated goose, which includes cooking and folklore
• List of goose breeds
• Waterfowl
• Wildfowl

References

• Carboneras, Carles (1992): Family Anatidae (Ducks, Geese and Swans). In: del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (editors): Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 1: Ostrich to Ducks: 536-629. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-10-5
• Crystal, David (1998): The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (Paperback) ISBN 0-521-55967-7

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Geese

• Goose videos on the Internet Bird Collectioncdo:Ngièpdc:Gans

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - gås, tåbe, fjols, dosmer, dask i enden
v. tr. - presse, pibe ud, stikke en finger op i enden på

idioms:

• goose bumps    gåsehud
• goose flesh    gåsehud
• goose pimples    gåsehud
• goose skin    gåsehud
• goose step    strækmarch

Nederlands (Dutch)
gans, onnozel, (mv) strijkijzer (kleermaker), (mv) por tussen de billen, tussen de billen porren, aansporen

Français (French)
n. - (Zool, Culin) oie, idiot
v. tr. - pincer les fesses de (arg)

idioms:

• goose bumps    chair de poule
• goose flesh    chair de poule
• goose pimples    (avoir) la chair de poule
• goose skin    chair de poule
• goose step    pas de l'oie

Deutsch (German)
n. - Gans
v. - (Slang) in den Hintern stechen

idioms:

• goose bumps    Gänsehaut
• goose flesh    Gänsehaut
• goose pimples    Gänsehaut
• goose skin    Gänsehaut
• goose step    Stechschritt

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ορνιθ.) χήνα, (μτφ.) κουτορνίθι, σίδερο (σιδερώματος) ραφείου
v. - τσιμπώ στον πισινό

idioms:

• goose bumps    ανατρίχιασμα
• goose flesh    ανατρίχιασμα
• goose pimples    ανατρίχιασμα
• goose skin    ανατρίχιασμα
• goose step    (στρατ.) βήμα της χήνας

Italiano (Italian)
oca

idioms:

• cook someone's goose    rompere le uova nel paniere
• goose bumps/pimples/skin    pelle d'oca
• goose step    passo dell'oca

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ganso (m) (Ornit.) (Zool.), carne (f) de ganso (Culin.), pessoa (f) afetada, simplório (m)
v. - cutucar uma pessoa entre as nádegas

idioms:

• cook someone's goose    frustrar as expectativas de alguém
• goose bumps/pimples/skin    pele (f) arrepiada
• goose step    passo (m) de ganso (Mil.)

Русский (Russian)
гусь, гусыня, гусиное мясо, простак

idioms:

• cook someone's goose    подложить кому-л. свинью
• goose bumps/pimples/skin    гусиная кожа
• goose step    маршировать, не сгибая ноги в коленях

Español (Spanish)
n. - ganso, oca
v. tr. - palpar, meter la mano a

idioms:

• goose bumps    carne de gallina
• goose flesh    carne de gallina
• goose pimples    carne de gallina, piel de gallina
• goose skin    piel de gallina
• goose step    paso de ganso

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - gås, dumbom, pressjärn
v. - sticka fingret i ändan på (sl.), vissla ut (teat. sl.)

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
鹅, 鹅肉, 雌鹅, 突然加大油门, 嘘骂

idioms:

• goose bumps    鸡皮疙瘩
• goose flesh    鸡皮疙瘩
• goose pimples    小疙瘩
• goose skin    鸡皮疙瘩, 鸡皮
• goose step    正步

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 鵝, 鵝肉, 雌鵝
v. tr. - 突然加大油門, 噓罵

idioms:

• goose bumps    雞皮疙瘩
• goose flesh    雞皮疙瘩
• goose pimples    小疙瘩
• goose skin    雞皮疙瘩, 雞皮
• goose step    正步

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 거위, 바보, 야유, 큰 다리미, 구즈 (미사일의 일종)
v. tr. - 야유하다, 쿡 찌르다, 자극하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ガチョウ, 雌のガチョウ, ガチョウの肉, ばか, まぬけ

idioms:

• goose bumps/pimples/skin    鳥肌
• goose step    上げ足歩調, 平衡訓練

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) وزة, اوزة, ساذج, مغفل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אווז, טיפש, בשר-אווז‬
v. tr. - ‮היכה אדם (עגה)‬

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