Wiktionary

gash

See also: Gash

English

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈɡæʃ/, [ˈɡæʃ]
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æʃ
  • Hyphenation: gash

Etymology 1

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Alteration of older garsh, from Middle English garsen, from Old French garser, jarsier (Modern French gercer), from Vulgar Latin *charaxāre, from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “engraver”).

Alternative forms

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Noun

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gash (countable and uncountable, plural gashes)

  1. A deep cut.
    Synonyms: gullick, incision, slash
    Hypernyms: see Thesaurus:injury
    Unwittingly I slashed a gushing gash in my hand with a switchblade.
    • 1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 46:
      Then Beowulf too rallied. With his whetted dagger he slit a gash in the serpent's middle.
    • 1983 April 23, Sue Hyde, “Castro Bashers Jailed”, in Gay Community News, page 2:
      The victim of the attack, Russell Mills, suffered a head gash, a broken knee cap and a broken wrist.
    • 2006, New York Times, “Bush Mourns 9/11 at Ground Zero as N.Y. Remembers”, [1]:
      Vowing that he was “never going to forget the lessons of that day,” President Bush paid tribute last night to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack, laying wreaths at ground zero, attending a prayer service at St. Paul’s Chapel and making a surprise stop at a firehouse and a memorial museum overlooking the vast gash in the ground where the twin towers once stood.
  2. (slang, vulgar) A vulva.
    Synonyms: crack, ladybits, quim; see also Thesaurus:vulva
  3. (slang, uncountable, offensive, derogatory) A woman.
    Synonyms: bint, mort, twist; see also Thesaurus:woman
    • 1934, James T. Farrell, chapter 19, in The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan:
      "Will you bastards quit singing the blues? You're young, and there's plenty of gash in the world, and the supply of moon goes on forever," Simonsky said.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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gash (third-person singular simple present gashes, present participle gashing, simple past and past participle gashed)

  1. To make a deep, long cut; to slash.
    Synonyms: carve, incise, lacerate; see also Thesaurus:cut
    My leg got gashed.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From French gâcher (“to waste, to mess up”) or gâchis (“waste, a mess”), likely borrowed into English by ships' crews in the 19th century. Became increasingly vulgar by association with Etymology 1.

Noun

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gash (countable and uncountable, plural gashes) (slang)

  1. (chiefly UK, Antarctica) Rubbish, particularly on board a ship or aircraft.
    Synonyms: drek, garbage, refuse; see also Thesaurus:trash
    • 1960, David Brunt, The Royal Society International Geophysical Year Antarctic Expedition, page 17:
      […] each man was on 'gash duty' about once in eighteen days.
    • 2007 04, Liz And Julie, You F`Coffee Sir, BingBong Ltd, →ISBN, page 104:
      You will learn flight safety, aircraft duties, uniform, SEP, oxyCrew, gash cart, safety card, bar seals, life jacket, diagram, uplift, C209, plonky kit, Crew lounge!
    • 2024, Lewis Juckes, Antarctic Basalt, page 126:
      After scradge and another mug of tea I washed up, tipping the slops into the gash tin […]
  2. (UK, now vulgar) Nonsense.
    Synonyms: bollocks, gobbledygook, mumbo jumbo; see also Thesaurus:nonsense
    • 2025 July 8, Charlotte Runcie, Bring the House Down: A Novel, Penguin Group, →ISBN, page 96:
      I hope you don't mind, but instead of “a load of gash” in this paragraph, could we say, “completely without merit”?
  3. (UK, now vulgar) Something low quality.
    Synonyms: cheapie, piece of shit, slop; see also Thesaurus:low-quality thing
    • 2012, Bennyness, No New Notifications, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 172:
      This new one he's got for free off a friend (I think), but it's absolute gash. It's huge and doesn't fit in with the deco of the room, but because he's got it for nowt he's not arsed about that.
    • 2017 October 19, Arron Crascall, See Ya Later: The World According to Arron Crascall, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
      When you load up the game, the first thing you notice is that it looks like complete and utter gash. Everything is made up of ugly blocks.
    • 2020, Tim Key, quoting Emily Juniper, He Used Thought as a Wife, →ISBN, page 38:
      Well, this chap's obviously just cooked a pile of rancid old gash, no?
  4. Unused film or sound during film editing.
  5. Poor-quality beer, usually watered down.
    Synonyms: swipe, whip-belly vengeance
Translations
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Adjective

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gash (not comparable) (UK slang)

  1. (now vulgar) Of poor quality; makeshift; improvised; temporary; substituted.
    Synonyms: lousy, shoddy; make-do, jury-rigged; see also Thesaurus:low-quality, Thesaurus:impromptu
  2. (dated, chiefly military) Spare, extra. [c. 1950s]
    Synonyms: extraneous, superfluous, surplus; see also Thesaurus:redundant
    • 1987, Simon Raven, The Sabre Squadron: A Novel, →ISBN:
      "All gash kit? There won't be no trouble with the books?"

Etymology 3

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From ghastful, by association with gash.

Adjective

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gash (comparative more gash, superlative most gash)

  1. (UK, Scotland, dialect) ghastly; hideous
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Further reading

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Anagrams

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