goose bump

1. 1.

   reflex erection of hairs of the skin in response to cold or emotional stress or skin irritation

   Synonymspilomotor reflexgoosefleshgoosebumpgoose pimplegoose skinhorripilation

   Broaderreflex

Questions about goose bump

What does goose bump mean?

goose bump means "reflex erection of hairs of the skin in response to cold or emotional stress or skin irritation".

What is another word for goose bump?

Close synonyms include pilomotor reflex, gooseflesh, goosebump, goose pimple, goose skin. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is goose bump a common word?

goose bump is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.