gouged

Gouged is the past tense of gouge, a verb with both material and figurative senses. In its primary sense, to gouge means to remove material or create a groove or hollow by pressing or scraping with a curved cutting edge. The action can describe natural processes, such as water or ice gouging rock, or deliberate work in wood, metal, or stone, where a tool shapes or scoops out material to form a cavity or notch.

In a figurative sense, gouge is used to describe exploiting or overcharging someone. When prices are said to be gouged, merchants are accused of price gouging—charging excessively high prices, often during shortages or emergencies. The noun gouge also appears in this context.

Gouged also refers to damage to a body or object that bears a deep, irregular cut or groove, as in a wound or impact that gouges a surface. The term is common in everyday language, journalism, and injury descriptions.

Etymology: the verb derives from the noun gouge, a curved cutting tool; the sense of removing material dates to Middle English, with the noun used since the 14th century in English.

See also: gouge (tool); price gouging; gouge wound.