To gouge means to dig, scoop, or cut something out roughly, often leaving a deep hole or groove. If you accidentally gouge a chunk out of a wooden table with a screwdriver, you've carved an ugly dent into it. A sharp rock might gouge a scratch in your bicycle frame. Workers gouge channels in concrete to run electrical wires.

The word captures something more violent than careful carving. When you whittle wood, you remove thin, controlled shavings. When you gouge it, you tear out bigger, rougher pieces, often by accident or with force.

Gouging also means charging an extremely unfair, excessive price for something people desperately need. During emergencies like hurricanes, some stores commit price gouging by charging $20 for a bottle of water that normally costs $2. This kind of gouging takes advantage of people when they're vulnerable and have no other choices. Most places have laws against price gouging because it exploits people's suffering for profit.

A gouge (pronounced the same way) is also the tool itself: a chisel with a curved, scoop-shaped blade that woodcarvers and sculptors use to hollow out material.