Use gore for graphic violent or medical imagery, not for ordinary blood or mild injury. It often warns that content may be upsetting.
Use gore for graphic violent or medical imagery, not for ordinary blood or mild injury. It often warns that content may be upsetting.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The movie has many gores. | The movie has a lot of gore. |
| There was a gore in the scene. | There was gore in the scene. |
| The video is very gore. | The video is very gory. |
Use gore mostly for animals such as bulls, boars, rhinos, or elephants. It is stronger and more specific than hurt or attack because it describes piercing with a pointed body part.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The bull gored at the farmer. | The bull gored the farmer. |
| He was gored by with a horn. | He was gored by a bull. |
| The tusk gored to his leg. | The tusk gored his leg. |
Use gore in sewing, mapmaking, balloon design, and road engineering for a triangular section. In ordinary conversation, explain it as a triangular panel or marked triangular area.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The skirt needs more gore violence. | The skirt needs another gore. |
| The highway gore is a bloody area. | The highway gore is the triangular area where lanes split. |
| A globe is made from gores of gore. | A globe can be made from printed gores. |
Gore can be disturbing in the blood-and-injury sense, precise in the animal-attack verb sense, and technical in sewing, road, and map contexts. Let the context show which meaning is intended.
Very gore should usually be very gory. Do not confuse the graphic-violence noun with the technical gore that means a triangular panel or space.
The blood sense is related to Old English gor, meaning filth or dung and later clotted blood. The triangular-piece sense comes from a different Old English word gāra, meaning spear or triangular piece. The verb sense developed from piercing with a horn or pointed part.
What does gore mean?
Gore can mean graphic blood or injury, to pierce with horns or tusks, or a triangular piece or space in technical uses.
Is gore the same as violence?
Not exactly. Gore usually focuses on graphic blood, wounds, or injury, while violence is broader.
What does gored mean?
Gored means wounded or pierced by horns, tusks, or a similar pointed part.
Can gore be used in sewing?
Yes. In sewing, a gore is a triangular or tapering fabric panel used to shape a garment.
What is a highway gore?
It is the triangular marked area where lanes split or merge, especially near an exit ramp.
What is the adjective form of gore?
The adjective is gory, meaning full of graphic blood or injury.
What are synonyms of gore?
Depending on the sense, synonyms include graphic violence, bloodshed, pierce, impale, panel, and wedge.