What is "gudgeon"

Gudgeon \Gud"geon\, v. t. To deprive fraudulently; to cheat; to dupe; to impose upon.

To be gudgeoned of the opportunities which had been given you.
--Sir IV. Scott.

Gudgeon \Gud"geon\ (g[u^]j"[u^]n), n. [OE. gojon, F. goujon, from L. gobio, or gobius, Gr. kwbio`s Cf. 1st Goby. ]

1. (Zo["o]l.) A small European freshwater fish ( Gobio fluviatilis), allied to the carp. It is easily caught and often used for food and for bait. In America the killifishes or minnows are often called gudgeons.

2. What may be got without skill or merit.

   Fish not, with this melancholy bait, For this fool gudgeon, this opinion.
   --Shak.

3. A person easily duped or cheated.
   --Swift.

4. (Mach.) The pin of iron fastened in the end of a wooden shaft or axle, on which it turns; formerly, any journal, or pivot, or bearing, as the pintle and eye of a hinge, but esp. the end journal of a horizontal.

   6. (Naut.) A metal eye or socket attached to the sternpost to receive the pintle of the rudder.

   Ball gudgeon. See under Ball.

small freshwater fish, early 15c., from Middle French goujon, from Old French gojon (14c.), from Latin gobionem (nominative gobio), alteration of gobius, from Greek kobios, a kind of fish, of unknown origin. The figurative sense of "a credulous person" (one who will "bite" at "bait") is from 1580s.

"pivot on the end of a beam," c.1400, from Old French gojon "pin, peg, spike" (13c.), perhaps somehow an altered sense of gudgeon (n.1).

Etymology 1 n. 1 A small freshwater fish, ''Gobio gobio'', that is native to Eurasi

1. 2 (context Australia English) Any of various similar small fish of the family ''(taxlink Eleotridae family noshow=1)'', often used as bait. 3 An idiot; a person easily duped or cheated. Etymology 2

   n. 1 A type of bearing: a circular fitting, often made of metal, which is fixed onto some surface and allows for the pivoting of another fixture. 2 (context nautical English) Specifically, in a vessel with a stern-mounted rudder, the fitting into which the pintle of the rudder fits, allowing the rudder to swing freely. v

2. To deprive fraudulently; to cheat; to dupe.

1. n. small spiny-finned fish of coastal or brackish waters having a large head and elongated tapering body having the ventral fins modified as a sucker [syn: goby]

2. small slender European freshwater fish often used as bait by anglers [syn: Gobio gobio]

A gudgeon is a socket-like, cylindrical (i.e., female) fitting attached to one component to enable a pivoting or hinging connection to a second component. The second component carries a pintle fitting, the male counterpart to the gudgeon, enabling an interpivoting connection that can be easily separated. Designs that may use gudgeon and pintle connections include hinges, shutters and boat rudders.

The gudgeon derives from the Middle English gojoun, which originated from the Middle French goujon. Its first known use was in the 15th century.

Gudgeon is the common name for a number of small freshwater fish of the families Cyprinidae, Eleotridae or Ptereleotridae. Most gudgeons are elongate, bottom-dwelling fish, many of which live in rapids and other fast moving water.