Word.ws English Dictionary

someone's goose is cooked

someone's goose is cooked phrase: all hope is gone; there is no possibility of success; the period of good fortune is over.

Phrase

someone's goose is cooked

  1. (idiomatic) All hope is gone; there is no possibility of success; the period of good fortune is over.
    • If he doesn't win the next round, then his goose is cooked.
    • On our wedding day, a friend said to me sadly:
      'Poor old Bernard, now your goose is cooked. Women are like cats, they like walls...'1969, Bernard Moitessier, “Cape Horn: The Logical Route”, in Inge Moore, transl., [1967, Cap Horn à la Voile], page 49

Origin of someone's goose is cooked

Unclear. Unconvincing claims have been made of the term's origin in Aesop's Fables (The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs) and in Swedish history. Attested as cook someone's goose from 1845.

Questions about someone's goose is cooked

What does someone's goose is cooked mean?
Someone's goose is cooked means all hope is gone; there is no possibility of success; the period of good fortune is over.
What part of speech is someone's goose is cooked?
Someone's goose is cooked is a phrase.

Words near someone's goose is cooked in the dictionary

  1. someone's ass off
  2. someone's butt off
  3. someone's cup of tea
  4. someone's driveway doesn't go all the way to the road
  5. someone's face doesn't fit
  6. someone's goose is cooked
  7. someone's headlights are on
  8. someone's heart goes out
  9. someone's heart is in
  10. someone's jaw dropped
  11. someone's luck is in

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: someone's goose is cooked (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: en-au-goose is cooked.ogg.

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