gag
(găg)
[From Middle English gaggen, to suffocate, perhaps of imitative origin.]
noun
- Something forced into or put over the mouth to prevent speaking or crying out.
- An obstacle to or a censoring of free speech.
- A device placed in the mouth to keep it open, as in dentistry.
- A practical joke.
- A comic effect or remark. See synonyms at joke
- The act or an instance of gagging or choking.
verb: gagged, gag·ging, gags.
transitive verb
- To prevent from speaking or crying out by using a gag.
- To stop or restrain from exercising free speech: censorship laws aimed at gagging the press.
- To cause to choke, retch, or undergo a regurgitative spasm.
- To keep (the mouth) open by using a gag.
- To block off or obstruct (a pipe or valve, for example).
intransitive verb
- To experience a regurgitative spasm in the throat, as from revulsion to a food or smell or in reflexive response to an introduced object.
- To retch or choke.
- To make jokes or quips.
