Alteration of older garsh, from Middle English garsen, from Old French garser, jarsier (Modern French gercer), from Vulgar Latin *charaxāre, from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “engraver”).
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) A deep cut.
The victim of the attack, Russell Mills, suffered a head gash, a broken knee cap and a broken wrist. 1983 April 23, Sue Hyde, “Castro Bashers Jailed”, in Gay Community News, page 2:
Unwittingly I slashed a gushing gash in my hand with a switchblade.
Vowing that he was “never going to forget the lessons of that day,” President Bush paid tribute last night to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack, laying wreaths at ground zero, attending a prayer service at St. Paul’s Chapel and making a surprise stop at a firehouse and a memorial museum overlooking the vast gash in the ground where the twin towers once stood. 2006, New York Times, “Bush Mourns 9/11 at Ground Zero as N.Y. Remembers”, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/11/nyregion/nyregionspecial3/11bush.html?hp&ex=1158033600&en=e468f88da52557ed&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Then Beowulf too rallied. With his whetted dagger he slit a gash in the serpent's middle. 1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 46:
(countable, slang, uncountable, vulgar) A vulva.
“Oh Gertie it’s true. It’s all true. They’ve got a horrid gash instead of a thrilling thing.” 1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 150:
(derogatory, offensive, slang, uncountable) A woman.
"Will you bastards quit singing the blues? You're young, and there's plenty of gash in the world, and the supply of moon goes on forever," Simonsky said. 1934, James T. Farrell, chapter 19, in The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan:
Alteration of older garsh, from Middle English garsen, from Old French garser, jarsier (Modern French gercer), from Vulgar Latin *charaxāre, from Ancient Greek χαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr, “engraver”).
From French gâcher (“to waste, to mess up”) or gâchis (“waste, a mess”), likely borrowed into English by ships' crews in the 19th century. Became increasingly vulgar by association with Etymology 1.
From French gâcher (“to waste, to mess up”) or gâchis (“waste, a mess”), likely borrowed into English by ships' crews in the 19th century. Became increasingly vulgar by association with Etymology 1.
Meanings
(UK, countable, qualifier:Antarctica, slang, uncountable) Rubbish, particularly on board a ship or aircraft.
[…] each man was on 'gash duty' about once in eighteen days. 1960, David Brunt, The Royal Society International Geophysical Year Antarctic Expedition, page 17:
You will learn flight safety, aircraft duties, uniform, SEP, oxyCrew, gash cart, safety card, bar seals, life jacket, diagram, uplift, C209, plonky kit, Crew lounge! 2007 04, Liz And Julie, You F`Coffee Sir, BingBong Ltd, →ISBN, page 104:
After scradge and another mug of tea I washed up, tipping the slops into the gash tin […] 2024, Lewis Juckes, Antarctic Basalt, page 126:
I hope you don't mind, but instead of “a load of gash” in this paragraph, could we say, “completely without merit”? 2025 July 8, Charlotte Runcie, Bring the House Down: A Novel, Penguin Group, →ISBN, page 96:
This new one he's got for free off a friend (I think), but it's absolute gash. It's huge and doesn't fit in with the deco of the room, but because he's got it for nowt he's not arsed about that. 2012, Bennyness, No New Notifications, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 172:
Well, this chap's obviously just cooked a pile of rancid old gash, no? 2020, Tim Key, quoting Emily Juniper, He Used Thought as a Wife, →ISBN, page 38:
When you load up the game, the first thing you notice is that it looks like complete and utter gash. Everything is made up of ugly blocks. 2017 October 19, Arron Crascall, See Ya Later: The World According to Arron Crascall, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
(countable, slang, uncountable) Unused film or sound during film editing.
(countable, slang, uncountable) Poor-quality beer, usually watered down.