goose egg

noun

a quantity of no importance

-

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

• Syn:

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

• Derivationally related forms: ↑zero (for: ↑zero)

• Hypernyms: ↑relative quantity

• Hyponyms: ↑nihil, ↑bugger all, ↑fuck all, ↑Fanny Adams, ↑sweet Fanny Adams

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noun

Etymology: so called from the egg-shaped numeral 0

: zero, nothing, failure; especially : a score of zero in a game or contest

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Informal.

1. 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.

2. a lump raised by a blow, esp. on the head.

[1350-1400; 1885-90, Amer., for def. 1; ME: the egg of a goose]

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goose egg,

1. the egg of a goose.

2. Slang. (in athletic and other contests) a zero, indicating a miss or a failure to score.

goose-egg «GOOS _EHG», transitive verb.

U.S. Slang. to cause to fail or lose.

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informal n.

1) zero, esp. a zero score in a game

once again, our team goes home with a big goose egg

2) a lump, typically on the head, from a blow

•

Origin:

late 19th cent.: with reference to the shape of the zero

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noun, pl ⋯ eggs [count]

US informal : a score of zero

The two teams matched goose eggs [=they both scored no runs] for five innings.

They put another goose egg up on the scoreboard.

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ˈgoose egg 7 [goose egg goose eggs] noun (NAmE, informal)

a score of zero in a game

 

Word Origin:

late 19th cent.: with reference to the shape of the zero; compare with ↑duck ‘a score of zero in cricket’.