gag

Meanings

Noun

• A device to restrain speech, such as a rag in the mouth secured with tape or a rubber ball threaded onto a cord or strap.
• An order or rule forbidding discussion of a case or subject.
• Any suppression of freedom of speech.
• A joke or other mischievous prank.
• a device or trick used to create a practical effect; a gimmick
• A convulsion of the upper digestive tract.
• A mouthful that makes one retch or choke.
• Mycteroperca microlepis (species), a species of grouper.

Verb

• To experience the vomiting reflex.
• To cause to heave with nausea.
• To restrain someone's speech by blocking his or her mouth.
• To pry or hold open by means of a gag.
• To restrain someone's speech without using physical means.
• To choke; to retch.
• To deceive (someone); to con.

Related

Similar words

• gag order

Origin

• . The intransitive sense "to retch" is from 1707.
• The noun is from the 16th century, figurative use (for "repression of speech") from the 1620s. The secondary meaning "(practical) joke" is from 1863, of unclear origin.