gag

[gag]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gag ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), gagged, gag·ging.

to stop up the mouth of (a person) by putting something in it, thus preventing speech, shouts, etc.

to restrain by force or authority from freedom of speech; silence.

to fasten open the jaws of, as in surgical operations.

to cause to retch or choke.

Metalworking. to straighten or bend (a bar, rail, etc.) with a gag.

verb (used without object), gagged, gag·ging.

to retch or choke.

noun

something put into a person's mouth to prevent speech, shouting, etc.

any forced or arbitrary suppression of freedom of speech.

a surgical instrument for holding the jaws open.

Metalworking. a shaped block of steel used with a press to straighten or bend a bar, rail, etc.

Origin of gag

1400–50; late Middle English gaggen to suffocate; perhaps imitative of the sound made in choking

Synonyms for gag

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gag ON THESAURUS.COM

2. curb, stifle, suppress.

gag

[gag]Informal.

noun

a joke, especially one introduced into a script or an actor's part.

any contrived piece of wordplay or horseplay.

verb (used without object), gagged, gag·ging.

to tell jokes or make amusing remarks.

to introduce gags in acting.

to play on another's credulity, as by telling false stories.

verb (used with object), gagged, gag·ging.

to introduce usually comic interpolations into (a script, an actor's part, or the like) (usually followed by up).

Origin of gag

1770–80; perhaps special use of gag¹; compare Old Norse gagg yelp

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for gagging

muzzle, constrain, choke, suppress, obstruct, shy, stifle, throttle, muffle, balk, quiet, repress, demur, curb, squash, deaden, squelch, restrain, still, stumble

Examples from the Web for gagging

Contemporary Examples of gagging

Or maybe Alibaba is doing what other companies are doing in China: gagging itself and its customers to appease the apparatchiks.
Alibaba’s Dark Side: Censoring Customers
Brendon Hong
November 18, 2014
The gagging can be extreme, even when patients are relaxed and cooperating by swallowing repeatedly during the procedure.
Gitmo Prisoner Force-Feeding Violates Medical Ethics
Nuriel Moghavem, Marty Makary
July 21, 2013
Valle allegedly admitted he would “really get off knocking her out, tying up her hands and bare feet, and gagging her.”
Seven Most Shocking Revelations about Gilberto Valle, NYPD’s Cannibal Cop
Caroline Linton
October 25, 2012
I am gagging here, somewhat, at having to state the blessedly obvious.
Michelle Obama's Power Trip
Tunku Varadarajan
October 7, 2010
I am gagging as I struggle to find a way to pay what I owe for gas and electric.
The Bag Lady Returns
Alexandra Penney
March 4, 2009

Historical Examples of gagging

Why then, Father John, not to tell you a lie, it is because you do be going on with your gagging at me so.
The Macdermots of Ballycloran
Anthony Trollope
From this it will be seen that the art of gagging can hardly be considered to be modern.
The Heritage of Dress
Wilfred Mark Webb
Then, somewhere in the crowd, I heard him choking and gagging.
The Great Quest
Charles Boardman Hawes
By destroying the liberties of the people in gagging their representatives.
Thirty Years' View (Vol. II of 2)
Thomas Hart Benton
This result they promote by gagging the patient with a stick.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 71, No. 437, March 1852
Various

British Dictionary definitions for gagging

gag

verb gags, gagging or gagged

(tr) to stop up (a person's mouth), esp with a piece of cloth, etc, to prevent him or her from speaking or crying out

(tr) to suppress or censor (free expression, information, etc)

to retch or cause to retch

(intr) to struggle for breath; choke

(tr) to hold (the jaws) of (a person or animal) apart with a surgical gag

(tr) to apply a gag-bit to (a horse)

be gagging for or be gagging to slang to be very eager to have or do something

noun

a piece of cloth, rope, etc, stuffed into or tied across the mouth

any restraint on or suppression of information, free speech, etc

a surgical device for keeping the jaws apart, as during a tonsillectomy

parliamentary procedure another word for closure (def. 4)

Word Origin for gag

C15 gaggen; perhaps imitative of a gasping sound

gag

noun

a joke or humorous story, esp one told by a professional comedian

a hoax, practical joke, etche did it for a gag

verb gags, gagging or gagged

(intr) to tell jokes or funny stories, as comedians in nightclubs, etc

(often foll by up) theatre

to interpolate lines or business not in the actor's stage part, usually comic and improvised
to perform a stage jest, either spoken or based on movement

Word Origin for gag

C19: perhaps special use of gag 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gagging

gag

mid-15c., "to choke, strangle," possibly imitative or influenced by Old Norse gaghals "with head thrown back." The sense of "stop a person's mouth" is first attested c.1500. Related: Gagged; gagging.

gag

n.1

"joke," 1863, probably related to theatrical sense of "matter interpolated in a written piece by the actor" (1847); or from the sense "made-up story" (1805); or from slang verbal sense of "to deceive, take in with talk" (1777), all perhaps on notion of "stuff, fill" (see gag (v.)).

gag

n.2

"act of gagging," 1550s, from gag (v.); figurative use from 1620s.

gagging in Medicine

gag

[găg]

v.

To choke, retch, or undergo a regurgitative spasm.

To prevent from talking.

n.

An instrument adjusted between the teeth to keep the mouth from closing during operations in the mouth or throat.