Meanings
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1
noun
informal: a person or thing that is doomed, ruined, or beyond rescue
Huck thought he was a goner when the two men came running up the path.
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2
noun
US sports: a ball hit out of the playing field, especially for a home run
The batter knew the ball was a goner as soon as it left the bat.
Thesaurus
Etymology
Formed from gone and the agent-noun suffix -er. Recorded in American English by the mid-nineteenth century, it pictures someone or something as already effectively gone because destruction or failure is certain.