If you’re a fan of gore, this article is for you! Discover everything you need to know about the meaning of gore, including its origins and more.
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Kevin
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April 13, 2022
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If you’re a horror movie aficionado, you probably don’t get the heebie-jeebies like most people when blood, guts, and gore are on the screen. That said, what exactly is gore? And no, we are not talking about the former vice president of the U.S. Al Gore! Well, read on and let us tell you.
Read on to discover everything you need to know about the word gore, including its definition, origin, synonyms, antonyms, and more.
What Is the Definition of Gore?
You’ve likely seen the word gore used in its most common context: horror movies, when referring to a lot of blood. But did you know that “gore” is also the name of a piece of material used to make an umbrella?
Now, the definition of gore definitely includes slaughter, violence, and a lot of blood or bloodshed. But as we browse the many trusted English Dictionaries, we find the word “gore” has a variety of definitions.
- Collins English Dictionary defines gore as a small piece of cloth, which is often tapering or triangular in shape. This piece of cloth — known as a godet or gusset — is used when making sails, umbrellas, and even garments.
- Furthermore, Cambridge English Dictionary tells us that gore can even be defined as a small triangular piece of land.
- Britannica Dictionary informs us that in American English, gore can be used to refer to blood that has gotten thick over time.
- Gore can also be used as a transitive verb in reference to someone getting “gored” by an animal — if a person is “gored,” they have been wounded badly by the tusks or horns of an animal.
As you now can see, the word gore has quite the array of meanings, not just the blood and guts of horror movies!
What Is the Etymology of Gore?
Since the noun (or even verb) gore has a variety of meanings, that also tells us that it has a few slightly varying origins. The study of these origins is the Etymology of a word — we do this to get a better understanding of the word’s meaning.
When we look at gore in reference to clotted blood, gore derives from Old English gor; from Middle Dutch goor. Around 1350 to 1400, “gore” (or rather “gor(r)en”) was first meant to stab or pierce, which itself is a derivative of Old English gār meaning spear, shaft, or arrow.
Alternatively, the noun gore — when used in reference to a piece of cloth — derives from the Middle English goren, or going further back, the Old English gāra.
Is the Word Gore Used in Other Languages?
Gore is used in almost all languages across the globe — however, it often appears differently in different dialetcs. Below, you’ll find the many different versions of the term gore from all over the world provided by WordSense:
Gore Defined as Someone Who Is “Gored” By an Animal:
- American English — gore, pronounced ˈgɔr
- Brazilian Portuguese — escornar
- Italian — incornare
- Japanese — 傷つける
- Spanish — cornear
- European Portuguese — escornar
- German — aufspießen
- French — encorner
- European Spanish — cornear
- Chinese — 抵伤动物用角或獠牙
Gore When Used in Reference To Blood That Has Clotted or Become Thick:
- European Spanish — sangre
- Chinese — 血块动物用角或獠牙
- European Portuguese — sangue
- Italian — sangue coagulato
- Czech — (sedlá OR sražená) krev
- Brazilian Portuguese — sangue
- American English — gore
- French — sang
- German — Blut
- Korean — 핏덩이
What Are Synonyms and Antonyms of Gore?
With its various meanings, we don’t need to browse our thesaurus to know that there is a large number of synonyms and antonyms for gore. A synonym is a word that has the same or similar meaning to the original word, whereas an antonym holds the opposite meaning.
Learning about words with similar, same, and even opposite meanings are a great tool we can utilize to not only memorize the definition of the word but expand our knowledge of the American English language.
Below are synonyms for gore provided by Power Thesaurus:
- Blood
- Bloodshed
- Slaying
- Extermination
- Warfare
- Pogrom
- Vital fluid
- Body fluid
- Sanguine fluid
- Claret
- Cruor
- Impale
- Stab
- Spear
- Run through
- Cut
- Bore
- Thrust
- Jostle
- Shoulder
- Thread your way
Below are antonyms for gore provided by Power Thesaurus:
- Aid
- Assist
- Cure
- Release
- Dally
- Hang
- Hold one’s breath
- Stay put
- Seal
- Close
- Sew
- Mend
- Fix
- Block up
- Withdraw
- Take out
- Exit from
- Retract from
- Patch up
Examples of Gore in a Sentence
Now that you have a better understanding of what gore means let’s practice using the term in a sentence. It should be noted that gore can be used in a sentence as present participle “goring” or even as the simple past and past participle “gored.”
Try using your newfound knowledge of our word of the day to write your own example sentences today!
I used the gore to obtain the desired shape I wanted as I was tapering my sail.
WOW! Did you see how that Czech cowboy barely managed to avoid being gored by that rowdy bull?
Conclusion
As we have stated before, the meaning of gore clearly includes all those violent scenes from horror movies — but we have also discovered all of its other various meanings.
From its far less gory meaning of a small piece of cloth, to a triangular piece of cloth that shares the same definition of a gusset or godet. Gore clearly has more than its fair share of meanings and we hope we have better clarified that in this article today!
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