gosling

A gosling is a baby goose. It is usually small, soft, and covered in down, often yellow, gray, or light brown. You might see goslings paddling behind their parents on a pond or waddling across a field or farmyard. They stay close to the adult birds as they learn to move around and find food.

The word is used in a simple, literal way. If you see a very young goose, that bird is a gosling. As it grows, it loses its fluffy down and becomes an adult goose.

A gosling is a young goose, especially one that has only recently hatched. The word refers to the early stage of a goose's life, when the bird is still small and covered with soft down instead of full adult feathers. Many people picture a gosling as yellow, but goslings can also be gray, brown, or mixed in color, depending on the kind of goose.

You will usually meet this word in clear, everyday contexts. A family at the park may notice goslings swimming behind their parents. A farmer may talk about raising goslings on a farm. In nature writing, the word often appears in scenes of spring, ponds, nests, and growing birds. It is a specific word: not every young bird is a gosling, only a young goose.

Goslings are able to move around quite soon after hatching. They can walk, swim, and peck for food early on, but they still depend on their parents for warmth, protection, and guidance. Because of that, the image of goslings following adult geese so closely feels vivid and familiar. When you use the word "gosling," you are simply naming a baby goose in a precise and natural way.