1. A large powerful hawk (Accipiter gentilis) having broad rounded wings, a long tail, and gray or brownish plumage.
2. Any of several similar or related hawks.

[Middle English goshauk, from Old English gōshafoc : gōs, goose; see goose + hafoc, hawk; see hawk¹.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.