Phrase guide

goose egg

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Zero; nothing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Canada, US, informal

Examples

  • I missed every question on the quiz and got a goose egg.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: duck egg

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A swelling caused by a bump on the head.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a quantity of no importance

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • it looked like nothing I had ever seen before
  • reduced to nil all the work we had done
  • we racked up a pathetic goose egg
  • it was all for naught
  • I didn't hear zilch about it

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nothing, nil, nix, nada, null, aught, cipher, cypher, naught, zero, zilch, zip, zippo

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: relative quantity

Narrower terms: nihil, bugger all, fuck all, Fanny Adams, sweet Fanny Adams

History

Etymology

From the oval shape of both a goose's egg and the Arabic numeral zero (0).

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: нула (nula) — nothing
  • Chinese Cantonese: 零雞蛋 /零鸡蛋 — nothing
  • Chinese: 鴨卵 /鸭卵 (ah-nn̄g) — nothing
  • Chinese: 鴨母卵 /鸭母卵 (ah-bú-nn̄g, ah-bó-nn̄g) — nothing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鴨蛋 /鸭蛋 (yādàn) — nothing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 零蛋 (língdàn) — nothing
  • German: überhaupt nichts — nothing
  • Korean: 빵 (ppang) — nothing
  • Malay: telur ayam — nothing
  • Russian: ды́рка от бу́блика (dýrka ot búblika) — nothing
  • Vietnamese: hột vịt — nothing
  • Arabic: دنجورة (dangūra) — swelling or bump
  • Bulgarian: цицина (cicina) — swelling or bump
  • German: Beule — swelling or bump
  • Russian: ши́шка (šíška) — swelling or bump