Gouged

I keep seeing it in 'English' commentaries nowadays. It's even been in the Guardian o few times 😱

I can't see at all how the association can have arisen. If it were associated with lowered prices it would, IMO, just about have a tiny bit of logic to it,

Thanks for your help, though

i've never heard of it to do with prices.
maybe it's american.

FarNorth

How is it used in relation to price increases? I haven't heard it.
Example sentence?

Governor Gavin Newsom has extended protections against price gouging after the Camp Fire in Butte County for a year in light of ongoing rebuilding and resettling. (The Chico Enterprise-Record)

Apparently, it's not modern. It seems to have originated in 19th century America.

www.etymonline.com/word/gouge

grammarist.com/idiom/price-gouging/#:~:text=The%20word%20gouging%20to%20mean,about%20one%20hundred%20years%20later.

How is it used in relation to price increases? I haven't heard it.
Example sentence?

Sorry to be offensive - I have only heard of ‘gouging the eyes out’

Oh. No-one can help me out?