Middle English Dictionary Entry
gorǧe n.
Entry Info
| Forms | gorǧe n. Also corge. |
| Etymology | OF |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Gullet, esophagus, throat; to the ~, up to the neck; (b) the front part of the neck, throat [see also coupe ~]; (c) the crop of a bird; ~ worm a noxious worm that gets into a hawk's crop.
Associated quotations
a
- c1350 MPPsalter (Add 17376)13.5 : Her gorge [Dub: throte; L guttur] is an open biriel.
- c1390 PPl.A(1) (Vrn)11.45,53 : Þus þei..demeþ [vr. gnawen] God in-to [vr. in; B: with] þe gorge [vrr. goorge, þrote] whon heore Gottus follen..God is muche in þe gorge [B vr. gorges] of þeose grete Maystres.
- (?a1439) Lydg.FP (Bod 263)5.2058 : Gorges agroteied, enboced ther entraille, Disposeth men..to reste & slepe.
- c1540(?a1400) Destr.Troy (Htrn 388)169 : These balfull bestes were..ffull flaumond of fyre..That girde thurgh ther gorge with a grete hete.
- c1450(?a1400) Wars Alex.(Ashm 44)3627 : Alexander..mas to beete all of bras as bernes it ware, And full of glorand gledis þaim to þe gorge fillis.
- ?a1475 Noble Bk.Cook.(Hlk 674)67 : To rost capon or gose, tak and drawe his leuer and his guttes at the vent, and his grece at the gorge..broche hym and let hym be stanche at the vent and at the gorge that the stuffur go not out.
b
- c1400 Femina (Trin-C B.14.40)16 : Eche hauyþ necke, gorge, & chyn, Wher of þe frensh ys comyn.
- c1425(a1420) Lydg.TB (Aug A.4)2.8301 : He smet hym vp þoruȝ his aventail, Into þe gorge þat þe stroke gan glide.
- c1440(?a1400) Morte Arth.(1) (Thrn)3760 : He gyrdes hym in at þe gorge with his grym launce.
- c1540(?a1400) Destr.Troy (Htrn 388)5829 : He hit hym so hetturly..The grete vayne of his gorge gird vne ysonder.
- c1450(?a1400) Wars Alex.(Ashm 44)4985 : Þar bade a brid..all gilden was hire gorge with golden fethirs.
- (a1460) Vegetius(2) (Pmb-C 243)369 : Empeche his hed, his face, have at his gorge.
c
- a1475 *Hrl.Diseases Hawk A (Hrl 2340)25a : And mych A-batyng with full gorge makis hawkis to kest hir mete.
- a1475 *Hrl.Diseases Hawk A (Hrl 2340)31b : Þer is þe gorge worme. Þer is þe flyth worme Apon þe bake.
- a1475 *Hrl.Bk.Hawking (Hrl 2340)18b : The flesch that is in his gorge woll be ouersoden.
2.
(a) Hawk. The contents of a hawk's crop, a meal for a hawk; casten ~, to vomit; (b) one's fill of wine or the like; ~ upon ~, one drinking bout after another; (c) veter. morbid swelling of a horse's leg, edema.
Associated quotations
a
- a1475 *Hrl.Diseases Hawk A (Hrl 2340)24b : Yf þu wyll hafe þi hawke to cast hir gorge, take v pelettys of warme flech.
- a1475 *Hrl.Diseases Hawk A (Hrl 2340)26b : Fed hir with smale gorgys.
- a1475 *Hrl.Diseases Hawk A (Hrl 2340)31a : Lat hir hafe bot hafe A gorge.
- a1475 *Hrl.Diseases Hawk A (Hrl 2340)32b : Take a fate hele & fle it, & gyfe hir A corge þer of.
b
- (?a1439) Lydg.FP (Bod 263)2.3833 : Thei hadde off knyhthod lost al the disciplyne..And to Bachus ther hedis gan enclyne, Gorge vpon gorge till it drouh to nyht.
- (?a1439) Lydg.FP (Bod 263)7.996 : Gorge upon gorge, this excessif glotoun..drank ofte ageyn lust.
c
- c1450 Diseases Horse (Yale 163)48 : For the gorge in the legge.
3.
?As surname.
Associated quotations
- (1185) in Pipe R.Soc.3436 : Herueus Gorge.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: For sense 2.(c), see OED gorge n.1, sense 8., exemplified by a single quotation: "1610 G. Markham Maister-peece ii. cx. 391: ' The gorge or gourded legges, is .. a grieuous swelling in the neather part of the legges.'" As this example suggests, the condition appears to be equivalent to 'gourded leg'; see OED s.v. gourded adj. and gourdiness n. (the latter s.v. gourdy adj.) M. Laing, "John Whittokesmede as Parliamentarian and Horse Owner in Yale University Library Beinecke MS 163," SELIM : Revista de la Sociedad Española de Lengua y Literatura Inglesa Medieval 17 (2010), p. 48: "This condition may perhaps be cellulitis."