Third person singular present tense of 'goose'; to pinch or poke someone, especially playfully or rudely on the buttocks.
From 'goose' (the bird), extended metaphorically. The verb possibly derives from the idea of a goose's pinching bite, or from the way a goose's neck moves. This slang usage emerged in English in the early 1900s.
This verb reminds us that 'goose' has been slang for pranking or poking someone since at least the 1920s—it made its way into Tom and Jerry cartoons, and the word stuck around even as our culture became less comfortable with casual physical pranking!
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