goose egg


noun Informal.

the numeral zero, often used to indicate the failure of a team to score in a game or unit of a game: a pitchers' duel, with nothing but goose eggs on the scoreboard.
a lump raised by a blow, especially on the head.

Origin of goose egg

1350–1400; 1885–90, Americanism, for def 1; Middle English: the egg of a goose

Example sentences from the Web for goose egg

Idioms and Phrases with goose egg

goose egg

Zero, nothing, especially a score of zero. For example, Our team did badly, earning goose egg, or My income from writing this year was goose egg. This expression is an Americanization of the earlier British duck's egg. [Mid-1800s]