retch
Americanverb (used without object)
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retches,
present (3rd person singular)
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retched,
past participle, past
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retching
present participle
verb (used with object)
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retches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
retched,
past participle, past
-
retching
present participle
noun
verb
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(intr) to undergo an involuntary spasm of ineffectual vomiting; heave
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to vomit
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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retchsimple
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retchessimple
-
have retchedperfect
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has retchedperfect
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am retchingprogressive
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are retchingprogressive
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is retchingprogressive
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have been retchingperfect progressive
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has been retchingperfect progressive
Past
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retchedsimple
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had retchedperfect
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was retchingprogressive
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were retchingprogressive
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had been retchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of retch
1540–50; variant of reach, Old English hrǣc an to clear the throat (not recorded in ME), derivative of hrāca a clearing of the throat; compare Old Norse hrǣkja to hawk, spit
Explanation
To retch is to gag, or nearly vomit. The smell of a passing garbage truck on a hot summer day might make you retch. Sometimes, retch is used to literally mean "throw up," but it usually means to come very close to throwing up without actually vomiting. You might retch because you're sick, or when you have to eat something you hate, like overcooked cauliflower. Retch is also a noun: "When I heard the retch from the bathroom, I knew he'd caught that stomach bug." Originally, to retch meant "to clear the throat."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On the record she punctuates that line with an exaggerated retch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2023
Rittenhouse tried to keep going, gesticulating with his arms but speaking in a vomitous retch.
From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2022
His mum Dawn Kafi, from Liverpool, said food made him retch and gag.
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2022
But they’re also 4-3 against the three worst teams in the Eastern Conference, and if you didn’t retch a little during that double-digit loss in Atlanta, your stomach is stronger than mine.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 18, 2018
I turn from him and retch right there, at the door of the infirmary, not stopping until there's nothing left to get out.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
Diana’s wardrobe becomes a gorgeous prison, from the string of pearls that repeatedly tightens around her neck to the stunning Chanel gown she wears as she retches into a toilet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2021
With a flourish, almost with dedication, with loud retches.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 7, 2019
Dumbfounded, she stalks away and retches in a trash bin.
From New York Times ● Jul. 1, 2014
When Tenorman learns of his error, he retches and begins to sob.
From Newsweek ● Feb. 19, 2013
It rises, a thrashing of wings, up through her trachea—until Yo retches.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
McDonald spoke of the usual chicken and spaghetti at that hour, and no one retched, at least not audibly.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 25, 2021
An older woman retched into a plastic bag.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 18, 2021
He gulped, gagged and retched as the rest of the group sat handcuffed beside a Border Patrol truck.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2021
When I hoisted myself into the driver’s seat, I practically retched.
From New York Times ● Jul. 24, 2020
He drank long and deeply at the pool and on his return tried the feathers again, for he was ravenous; but they stuck in his gullet and he retched them out.
From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford
The smell was so overwhelming that workers started retching.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
When she wasn’t retching, she lay her head in her boyfriend’s lap.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2024
“Pepper” follows the overlapping pursuits of a handful of pepper enthusiasts, whose interests lie in the hottest of the hots, peppers that induce sweating, crying and retching within minutes.
From New York Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
Instead she found two of her co-workers vomiting, with one retching into her bowl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
First she felt cold and then she was seized by a fit of retching.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
