The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
GOUGE
Definition of GOUGE
noun
Senses relating to cutting tools. A chisel with a curved blade for cutting or scooping channels, grooves, or holes in wood, stone, etc. A bookbinder's tool with a curved face, used for blind tooling or gilding. An incising tool that cuts blanks or forms for envelopes, gloves, etc., from leather, paper, or other materials.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English gouge (“chisel with concave blade; gouge”), from Old French gouge, goi (“gouge”), from Late Latin goia, gubia, gulbia (“chisel; piercer”), borrowed from Gaulish *gulbiā, from Proto-Celtic *gulbā, *gulbi, *gulbīnos (“beak, bill”). The English word is cognate with Italian gorbia, gubbia (“ferrule”), Old Breton golb, Old Irish gulba (“beak”), Portuguese goiva, Scottish Gaelic gilb (“chisel”), Spanish gubia (“chisel, gouge”), Welsh gylf (“beak; pointed instrument”), gylyf (“sickle”). The verb is derived from the noun.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
GOUGE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 3 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 2, 23 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 124, 21 September 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 2, 23 May 2026.
Built from these letters
GOUGE starts with G and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read EGGOU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. G appears more than once.
Words that start GOUGE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found GOUGE?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 2 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER