Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

goodness

 noun
     
good‧ness S2 [uncountable]
1

my goodness!/goodness (gracious) me!

spoken said when you are surprised or sometimes angry:
My goodness, you have spent a lot!
2

for goodness' sake

spoken said when you are annoyed or surprised, especially when telling someone to do something:
For goodness' sake stop arguing!
3

goodness (only) knows

spoken used to emphasize that you are not sure about something, or to make a statement stronger:
That bar's been closed for goodness knows how long.
Goodness knows, I tried to help him!
4

being good

the quality of being good:
the desire to see goodness and justice in the world
5

best part

the part of food which is good for your health:
All the goodness of an egg is in the yolk.
6

have the goodness to do something

old-fashioned formal used when asking someone to do something in an extremely polite way:
Please have the goodness to wait.
7

out of the goodness of somebody's heart

used when someone has done something in order to be kind or helpful to other people:
He did it out of the goodness of his heart.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
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