noun

gore

gaw

noun

Blood, especially clotted or thickened blood from a wound, or graphic depictions of violence.

"The horror film was wall-to-wall gore."

"There was gore splattered across the crime scene."

A triangular piece of fabric or land, such as a panel sewn into a skirt or sail to add width.

"The seamstress added a gore to the skirt so it would flare at the hem."

verb

To wound someone by piercing them with a horn or tusk.

"The matador was gored by the bull during the final pass."

How to Use Gore

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishBloody violence (the common modern sense), or — a totally separate old meaning — a wedge-shaped panel of cloth or land.

Common pairings

blood and gore gored by a bull gore in a skirt

Word Forms

gored past tense, gored past tense, gored past tense, gores plural, gores plural, gores singular, gores singular, gores singular

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The horror film was wall-to-wall _____.

Etymology

From Old English gor ("dung, filth"), which over time narrowed to mean specifically clotted blood; the unrelated "triangular piece" sense comes from a different old word for a wedge- or spear-shaped bit of land or cloth.

Rhymes for gore

ore bore tore yore lore more core fore sore pore adore score

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