gudgeon

n. [ OE. gojon, F. goujon, from L. gobio, or gobius, Gr. kwbio`s Cf. 1st Goby. ] 1. (Zool.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. What may be got without skill or merit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fish not, with this melancholy bait,
For this fool gudgeon, this opinion. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A person easily duped or cheated. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Naut.) A metal eye or socket attached to the sternpost to receive the pintle of the rudder. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ball gudgeon. See under Ball. [ 1913 Webster ]