gore

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈɡɔr/ UK /ˈɡɔː/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
blood from a wound, or to pierce with a horn or tusk

The bull lowered its head to gore the matador's cape.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · blood from a wound, or to... blood carnage slaughter pierce impale stab

Word family

Derived forms goredgoringgory

Related forms gory

Etymology

From Old English gor ('dirt, filth, dung, slime'), from Proto-Germanic *gurą; the modern sense of clotted blood developed in the 16th century. The verb 'to pierce with a horn' is of separate, uncertain origin.

gor Old English *gurą Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# gore

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɡɔr/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɡɔː/

## Meanings
1. blood from a wound, or to pierce with a horn or tusk

## Examples
- The bull lowered its head to gore the matador's cape.

## Synonyms
- blood
- carnage
- slaughter
- pierce
- impale
- stab

## Derived Forms
- gored
- goring
- gory

## Related Forms
- gory

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: gor
- Root: *gurą

## Etymology
From Old English gor ('dirt, filth, dung, slime'), from Proto-Germanic *gurą; the modern sense of clotted blood developed in the 16th century. The verb 'to pierce with a horn' is of separate, uncertain origin.

## AI Etymology
Gore comes from Old English gor ('dirt, filth, dung, slime'), from Proto-Germanic *gurą; the modern sense of clotted blood developed in the 16th century. The verb 'to pierce with a horn' is of separate, uncertain origin. The history is deliberately cautious: the proposed comparison is useful for orientation, but the wording leaves room for uncertainty rather than forcing a false certainty. In present use, it is used as a noun and verb meaning "blood from a wound, or to pierce with a horn or tusk", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as gored, goring, and gory and related forms such as gory, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Old English gor and Proto-Germanic *gurą, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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