Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A thick, sticky, messy substance; goo.
  • transitive & intransitive verb To clog or become clogged with gunge. Often used with up.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See gunj.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun UK A soft, sticky mass; goo; gunk.
  • verb To clog with gunge (often constructed as gunge up.)
  • verb UK To cover someone with gunge.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps alteration of goo or gunk.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

(1935-40) Probably an alteration of gunk.

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Examples

  • 'gunge' has been found in gardens where deer would not be present, also in my county in the East, we have large populations of red deer, but no reports of this substance being found at all.

    BBC (UK) Homepage main promotional content 2009

  • So if another patriarchal newspaper asks me about being absolutely gorgeous, which I am, then I will absolutely scream until I am sick, but I will put up with it, because the only way we can change things in this undemocratic patriarchal society is with gunge and slime and custard.

    How I gunged Mandelson and managed to stay absolutely gorgeous in the process 2009

  • Like many ideas of mine it grew and festered in my mind a little like the gunge that you find on refrigerator seals, waiting for the time when it would ripen sufficiently for me to give it life on paper.

    Jasper Fforde discusses Shades of Grey, the first in a trilogy set in a future world recognizable as our own - but only just 2010

  • The reunion came and went, but no gunge or itching indicated anything was amiss.

    …conjunctivitis « Sven’s guide to… 2008

  • If they have problems with porridge gunge glued to the sides, just soak in cold water for an hour orso and it will lift off.

    Food for Fort: Cooking with herbs, tough asparagus and a pan for porridge 2010

  • With regard to these wretched, horrible, bloody lumps of caramel gunge, he had constructed a whole covert, hidden, humiliating world of pretence and lies, sneaking around pharmacies and stores to find his fix, inventing a serious disease for himself to cover an addiction as compelling and overpowering as if it had been heroin that enslaved him.

    Portobello Ruth Rendell 2010

  • The clock is ticking for him to find the natural father before Cally adopts the baby and he'sleft mopping up the gunge.

    Watch this Jon Watson Neill 2010

  • Maybe for the next General Election they could ask Chris Tarrant, Lenny Henry and Sally James to host an election night Tiswas as part of the coverage - putting the studio representatives from each of the main parties in the gunge tank and getting the flan flinger to surprise politicians whilst being interviewed.

    BBC - serious broadcasting? Not a sheep 2008

  • Maybe for the next General Election they could ask Chris Tarrant, Lenny Henry and Sally James to host an election night Tiswas as part of the coverage - putting the studio representatives from each of the main parties in the gunge tank and getting the flan flinger to surprise politicians whilst being interviewed.

    Archive 2008-05-01 Not a sheep 2008

  • Up close they are really interesting and even pretty but most eyes find them to be just slimy gunge that needs to be gotten rid off…And, of course, there are the moss lovers that create their growth with spoiled milk/yogurt.

    More Moss Magic « Fairegarden 2009

Comments

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  • (Brit. slang) Any messy or clogging substance, esp. one considered otherwise unidentifiable; also, general rubbish, clutter, filth. (WWFTD)

    May 18, 2008

  • See gound.

    August 9, 2008