gosling
noun
gos·ling ˈgäz-liŋ 
ˈgȯz-,
-lən
1
: a young goose
2
: a foolish or callow person
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Sergeant Jackie Noonan was squaring away paperwork when the call came in, just her and the gosling, Pronsius Swift, in Ballina Garda Station. 
Colin Barrett, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2021 This gosling broke away from a pack of birds and hid behind the leg of a bench for a few seconds before poking its little head out to say hello. Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 5 Sep. 2021 Sadly, the little gosling was found dead just a few months later. Nora Mcgreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 July 2020 Walter Kinzie has had some strange visitors at his new office -- deer, antelopes, four rattlesnakes and a mother goose and her goslings. Kathryn Vasel, CNN, 18 May 2020 The other day, a procession of cars on a road near Stone Barns Center, the nonprofit educational farm in Pocantico Hills, New York, halted in its tracks to make way for goslings: a gaggle of them, waddling across the pavement. Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker, 15 May 2020 As the spring progresses, there will be goslings, which is always a great treat. James Gorman, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2020 Intimacy can emerge in a photograph of a father and his children talking while roasting marshmallows or a fluffy gosling cuddled into the safety of its mother’s feathers. National Geographic, 10 May 2019 That is, the scientists had to let a flock of goslings imprint on them so that when the birds matured, the humans could lead them into a wind tunnel and fit them with monitoring equipment. Scientific American, 6 Sep. 2019 See More
Colin Barrett, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2021 This gosling broke away from a pack of birds and hid behind the leg of a bench for a few seconds before poking its little head out to say hello. Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 5 Sep. 2021 Sadly, the little gosling was found dead just a few months later. Nora Mcgreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 July 2020 Walter Kinzie has had some strange visitors at his new office -- deer, antelopes, four rattlesnakes and a mother goose and her goslings. Kathryn Vasel, CNN, 18 May 2020 The other day, a procession of cars on a road near Stone Barns Center, the nonprofit educational farm in Pocantico Hills, New York, halted in its tracks to make way for goslings: a gaggle of them, waddling across the pavement. Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker, 15 May 2020 As the spring progresses, there will be goslings, which is always a great treat. James Gorman, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2020 Intimacy can emerge in a photograph of a father and his children talking while roasting marshmallows or a fluffy gosling cuddled into the safety of its mother’s feathers. National Geographic, 10 May 2019 That is, the scientists had to let a flock of goslings imprint on them so that when the birds matured, the humans could lead them into a wind tunnel and fit them with monitoring equipment. Scientific American, 6 Sep. 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from gos goose
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
gosling
noun
gos·ling ˈgäz-liŋ
: a young goose