gargle

American  

[gahr-guhl] / ˈgɑr gəl /

verb (used without object)

• gargles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• gargled,
  past participle,  past
• gargling
  present participle

1. to wash or rinse the throat or mouth with a liquid held in the throat and kept in motion by a stream of air from the lungs.

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verb (used with object)

• gargles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• gargled,
  past participle,  past
• gargling
  present participle

1. to gargle (the throat or mouth).

2. to utter with a gargling sound.

noun

• gargles
  plural

1. any liquid used for gargling.

2. a gargling sound.

gargle British  

/ ˈɡɑːɡəl /

verb

1. to rinse (the mouth and throat) with a liquid, esp a medicinal fluid by slowly breathing out through the liquid

2. to utter (words, sounds, etc) with the throaty bubbling noise of gargling

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noun

1. the liquid used for gargling

2. the sound produced by gargling

3. informal an alcoholic drink

   what was her favourite gargle?

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• gargler
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• gargles
  plural

Participles

• gargling
  present
• gargled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• gargle
  simple
• gargles
  simple
• have gargled
  perfect
• has gargled
  perfect
• am gargling
  progressive
• are gargling
  progressive
• is gargling
  progressive
• have been gargling
  perfect progressive
• has been gargling
  perfect progressive

Past

• gargled
  simple
• had gargled
  perfect
• was gargling
  progressive
• were gargling
  progressive
• had been gargling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will gargle
  simple
• will have gargled
  perfect
• will be gargling
  progressive
• will have been gargling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of gargle

1520–30; < Middle French gargouiller to gargle, rattle the throat, derivative of gargouille throat; perhaps imitative

Explanation

When you gargle, you swish mouthwash or another liquid around your mouth and at the back of your throat. After having a tooth pulled, you might be instructed to gargle with saltwater. If you gargle with mouthwash, moving the minty liquid around your mouth and then spitting it out, you'll have fresh breath. Many people make a gurgling sound when they gargle. The word comes from the Middle French gargouiller, "to gurgle or bubble," which stems from the Old French gargole, meaning both "throat" and "waterspout," rooted in the Latin word for "throat," gula.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gargle gargles gargled gargling

His mash-up feels fresh, just as the bombastic score by Juri Seppä and Tuomas Wäinölä boldly borrows Ennio Morricone’s soaring horns and wah-wah-waaah squawks while adding its own gargle of Finnish throat singing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025

I had just finished brushing my teeth and was about to gargle, so I went ahead and gargled.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 13, 2023

"I'm now going to go home and gargle some honey."

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2023

And his voice, a heavily processed sweet gargle, sounded completely modern, yet also like a deeply imprinted memory.

From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2022

Peach cleared his throat in a great gargle.

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

Perplexity advised rest and fluids, while Claude also recommended zinc lozenges and saltwater gargles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026

“My preciousssssss,” Adam Heyes gargles in a high-pitched voice as he crouches on the linoleum checkerboard floor.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2023

Listen to how well the recording captures Mr. Hutcherson’s muted clangs and chiming overtones — along with the bleats, harrumphs and gargles of Mr. Dolphy’s bass clarinet, and the deep gravitas of Richard Davis’s bass.

From New York Times ● Aug. 26, 2016

Rahm Emanuel gargles with soap every morning, but it doesn’t help.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2016

“Self-care is important,” the monster responds in a voice that sounds like it brushes with charcoal and gargles with rocks each morning.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

I had just finished brushing my teeth and was about to gargle, so I went ahead and gargled.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 13, 2023

It found people who gargled and cleared their nose with a salt water solution reported fewer coughs, less congestion and seemed to recover quicker.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2020

So rancid did his night scenarios become that Seamie Ferris stumbled from the bed to the bathroom and gargled with Listerine.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 8, 2018

It was something approaching fear, a strange gargled sound that could be heard every time Germany elegantly broke forward, threatening even more humiliation.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 8, 2014

I’ve already brushed my teeth six times, gargled mouthwash, and googled How do you know if you have old-man breath.

From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

As I was gargling in the bathroom, she appeared at the doorway to snidely say, “Don’t drink it.”

From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2026

That mentality, that medical fear, gives way to home remedies like chicken noodle soup, gargling with salt water, taking a nap and, yes, sipping on the syrupy, high fructose, food-colored ginger ale.

From Salon ● Jan. 27, 2023

Doctors often recommend salt water gargling as a way to ease pain in your mouth or the back of your throat and improve overall oral health.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 31, 2022

Covid is mainly caught by inhaling tiny droplets in the air via the nose as well as the mouth, so gargling attacks only one point of entry.

From BBC ● May 19, 2022

Harry leapt over a low table and sprinted toward Slughorn’s open potion kit, pulling out jars and pouches, while the terrible sound of Ron’s gargling breath filled the room.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling