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💸 To overcharge 🕳️ To dig out 🕳️ A deep groove 🪚 A curved chisel
to gouge

to gouge

31 8.3
To get money unfairly from someone by forcing them to pay too much
  • verb
  • /ɡaʊdʒ/
  • NSFW
: cobrar precios abusivos
  • And I feel strongly that drug companies are just gouging patients who are dying.
  • gouge consumers
  • getting gouged
  • gouge customers

It's whoever's fault, they're the ones gouging you for prices or whatever, right?

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Examples

  • That's how consumers get gouged way more than it's worth for a repair part.

  • If people want your quality works, then they won't feel gouged if they need to pay $5 or $7.

    Blog text (1)

  • Well, they gouge us 'cause they know they can get away with it.

    In Dubious Battle (2016)

  • Every one of you comes by here is trying to gouge money out of me.

    The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)

  • I always say, "Never spend too much money on a lawyer. They always gouge you in the end."

    Material Girls (2006)

  • "But how can we stand by and allow them to gouge us like this?"

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Rich or poor, he gouged them all the same.

    The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)

  • Yeah, but these people know the house, and they're not gonna gouge you on the price.

    The Intruder (2019)

  • Do you think we are being gouged by big oil?

    Blog text (10)

  • The contractor tried to gouge extra money from us for unnecessary repairs.

Synonyms

to blackmail
vsto gouge
158 5.6

To force someone to give money or do something by threatening to tell their secret

covers that but also other unfair pressure types without secret threats
to squeeze
vsto gouge
104 4.8

To force someone to do something or give you something

focuses more on threats or unfair pressure rather than general force
to extort
vsto gouge
44 8.1

To get money or favors from someone by using threats

is broader, also using unfair pressure not only threats
to bleed
vsto gouge
  • Informal
34 7.7

To take money repeatedly from someone in an unfair way

relies on coercion or threats rather than just relentless taking
to wring
vsto gouge
14 7.4

Make someone give you something by using pressure or threats

is the common term for getting money by force or unfair pressure
to gouge on
vsto gouge
2 9.1

Charge someone an unfairly high price

uses force or threats, not just overpricing, to obtain money
to rack
vsto gouge
  • NSFW
2 9.4

To get money from people by using threats or force

is used more broadly for unfair pressure beyond those methods
to gouge the customer
vsto gouge
1 8.2

Charge customers much more than is fair

focuses on coercion methods beyond simply charging high prices

Phrasal Verbs

to gouge out
15 7.4

To make a deep cut or groove in a surface by scraping

to gouge on
2 9.1

Charge someone an unfairly high price

to gouge the customer
1 8.2

Charge customers much more than is fair

How Coercive

to extort
44 8.1
to gouge
  • NSFW
31 8.3
to coerce
  • Offensive
80 6.4
to pressure
224 4.2

Surface Forms

gouge infinitive
gouged past
gouged past participle
gouging present participle
gouges third person singular

Etymology

A helpful way to remember gouge when it means taking money unfairly is to imagine someone making a deep cut in your wallet; the idea of 'cutting out' became a way to say taking a lot of money by force or pressure.