gudgeon
Syllables: gud·geon/ˈɡʌdʒən//ˈɡʌd͡ʒən/
gudgeon noun: a small freshwater fish of species Gobio gobio, native to Eurasia.
Noun (1)
gudgeon (plural gudgeons)
- A small freshwater fish of species Gobio gobio, native to Eurasia.
- […] Ile tell thee more of this another time. / But fiſh not with this melancholy baite, / For this foole gudgin, this opinion: […]c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act...
- […] Make Fools believe in their fore-seeing / Of things before they are in Being; / To swallow Gudgeons ere th' are catch'd, / And count their Chickens ere th' are hatch'd, […]1663 (indicated as 1664), [Samuel Butler], “The Second Part of Hudibras. Canto III.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678...
- Synonyms:
- common gudgeon, goby, wapper
- Cottus bairdii, more widely known as mottled sculpin.
- Any of various similar small fish of the family Eleotridae, often used as bait.
- The southern purple-spotted gudgeon [Mogurnda adspersa] can be hard to find. Although colourful, they are thin and only grow up to 12 centimetres.2012 October 5, Nicola Gage, “Murray Showing Signs of Recovery”, in ABC News, Sydney, N.S.W., archived from the original on 01 Nov 2019
- Synonyms:
- sleeper goby
- Any of various other fish, similar in appearance and principally in families Butidae and Eleotridae.
- A person apt to take the bait; one easily cheated or duped; also, an idiot.
- The Doctor now obeys the Summons, / Likes both his Company, and Commons; / Diſplays his Talent, ſits till Ten; / Next Day invited, comes again; / Soon grows Domeſtick, ſeldom fails, / Either at Morning, or at Meals; / Came early, and departed late: / In ſhort, the Gudgeon took the Bait.1713, Jonathan Swift, “Horace, Epistle VII. Book I. Imitated and Addressed to the Earl of Oxford, in the Year 1713”, in Miscellanies. The Last Volume, London: […] Benjamin Motte, […], published 1733...
- "Is it not also known that you two innocents were doing the Churches week by week? Was it not patent that sooner or later you would come to a Spiritualist gathering? Here was a chance for a convert! They set a bait and poor old gudgeon Malone came along and swallowed it."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019
- Something used to lure or tempt; bait, a lure.
Verb
gudgeon (third-person singular simple present gudgeons, present participle gudgeoning, simple past and past participle gudgeoned)
- To deprive (someone) fraudulently; to cheat, to dupe.
- I have seen when you were willing to tie his points or brush his cloak, or the like—and to be treated thus ungratefully—and gudgeoned of the opportunities which had been given you—1826, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and...
- To take the bait; to be defrauded or duped.
Noun (2)
gudgeon (plural gudgeons)
- A circular or cylindrical fitting, often made of metal, into which a pin or pintle fits to create a hinge or pivoting joint.
- [A]s to a Wheel-barrow, I fancy'd I could make all but the Wheel; but that I had no Notion of, neither did I know how to go about it; beſides, I had no possible way to make the Iron Gudgeons for the Spindle or Axis of the Wheel to run in, ſo I gave it over; [...]1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, pages 85–86
- In a vessel with a stern-mounted rudder: the fitting into which the pintle of the rudder fits, allowing the rudder to swing freely.
- This afternoon the gudgeon of the rudder belonging to the large cutter, was drawn out and ſtolen, without being perceived by the man that was ſtationed to take care of her.1792, William Bligh, chapter VII, in A Voyage to the South Sea, […] in His Majesty’s Ship The Bounty, […], London: […] George Nicol, […], →OCLC, page 83
- Synonyms:
- brace
gudgeon meaning in Tamil, Kannada and Vietnamese
gudgeon in Tamil
- கோசு
gudgeon in Kannada
- ಕೀಲು, ತಿರುಗಣೆ, ಕೂಡುಮೊಳೆ
gudgeon in Vietnamese
- Gobio gobio
- cá bống mú
Examples of gudgeon in a sentence
- The Gudgeon is reputed a fish of excellent taste, and to be very wholesome: he is of a fine shape, of a silver colour, and beautified with black spots both on his body and tail.1676, Izaak Walton, “[The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation: Part I […].] Observations of the Gudgeon, the Ruffe, and...
- You eat a gudgeon a day, and you think you bribe God with gudgeon.1912, Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Why is such a Man Alive?”, in Constance Garnett, transl., The Brothers Karamazov […], New York, N.Y.: The...
- "Don't be a gudgeon," she grumbled, tugging at the dress much more fiercely than was necessary.2004, Robert Jordan, “Making Use of Invisibility”, in New Spring, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 298:
Synonyms of gudgeon
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of gudgeon
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | gudgeons |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | gudgeons |
| present participle | gudgeoning |
| past participle | gudgeoned |
| past | gudgeoned |
Origin of gudgeon
The noun is derived from Late Middle English gojoun [and other forms], from Old French gojon, goujon (“gudgeon”), from Late Latin gōbiōnem, the accusative of gōbiō, the augmentative of Latin gōbius (“gudgeon”), from Ancient Greek κωβῐός (kōbĭós, “fish of the gudgeon kind”), probably of Semitic origin. The English word is a doublet of goby and goujon. The verb is derived from the noun.
From Middle English gojoun (“metal fitting with a ring at one end”) [and other forms], from Old French goujon (“dowel; pin”) [and other forms], from gouge (“gouge (tool)”) + -on (suffix forming diminutives). Gouge is derived from Late Latin gulbia, gubia (“chisel”), ultimately from Proto-Celtic *gulbā, *gulbīnos (“beak, bill”).
Words formed from gudgeon
- Ambon gudgeon B
- Amur false gudgeon G
- Amur longnose gudgeon G
- Amur white gudgeon
- Amur white-finned gudgeon
- Amur whitefin gudgeon G
- Anatolian gudgeon G
- Aru gudgeon
- Aru Island gudgeon E
- Australian carp-gudgeon E
- Auvergne gudgeon G
- Barnett River gudgeon E
- barred gudgeon B
- Beysehir gudgeon G
- big-headed gudgeon E
- black banded gudgeon E
- black gudgeon E
- black-banded gudgeon
- blackbanded gudgeon E
- black-spotted gudgeon B
- blind cave gudgeon
- blind gudgeon M
- blue gudgeon E
- brown gudgeon
- brown spine-cheek gudgeon E
- bull-headed gudgeon E
- Cappodocian gudgeon G
- carp gudgeon E
- Caspian gudgeon G
- cave gudgeon M
- Chersky's gudgeon
- Cherskii's thicklip gudgeon G
- Chinese false gudgeon G
- Chinese gudgeon B
- Chinese lake gudgeon G
- Chinese lizard gudgeon G
- Chornaya gudgeon G
- Cihanbeyli gudgeon G
- Cox's gudgeon
- Cox gudgeon E
- crested gudgeon B
- crimson-tipped flathead gudgeon
- crimsontip gudgeon
- crimson-tipped gudgeon B
- Dalmatian bargel-gudgeon C
- Daly river gudgeon E
- Danube delta gudgeon G
- Danube gudgeon
- Danubian gudgeon
- Danubian longbarbel gudgeon G
- deepreef gudgeon E
- Dniester longbarbel gudgeon G
- Don gudgeon G
- Don whitefin gudgeon G
- doublespot gudgeon E
- Drysdale gudgeon E
- dusky marine gudgeon E
- dwarf gudgeon E
- Eber gudgeon G
- ebony gudgeon E
Phrases with gudgeon
Words that rhyme with gudgeon
Questions about gudgeon
- What does gudgeon mean?
- Gudgeon means a small freshwater fish of species Gobio gobio, native to Eurasia.
- What is gudgeon in Tamil?
- Gudgeon in Tamil is கோசு. See Gudgeon meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use gudgeon in a sentence?
- The Gudgeon is reputed a fish of excellent taste, and to be very wholesome: he is of a fine shape, of a silver colour, and beautified with black spots both on his body and tail.
- What part of speech is gudgeon?
- Gudgeon can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce gudgeon?
- Gudgeon is pronounced /ˈɡʌdʒən/ (UK).
- What is the plural of gudgeon?
- The plural of gudgeon is gudgeons.
Words near gudgeon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gudgeon (page history and authors); gudgeon (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gudgeon (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gudgeon.wav, En-us-gudgeon.ogg.
Cite this entry: “gudgeon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gudgeon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.