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.

---

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

---

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’ve had hiccups several times since then and have discovered that a quick gargle with water absolutely stops them.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 13, 2023

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

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2023

Some research has shown that using a turmeric gargle could reduce the side effects of radiotherapy in people with head and neck cancers, however.

From Salon ● May 23, 2023

He coughed, which turned into a long-drawn-out gargle, ending with another glob into a crushed tissue.

From "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom

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

He gargles with camomile tea, coats the roof of his mouth with a tincture of myrrh and rubs Mentholatum over, his chest, nose, gums and tongue.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

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

One teenage girl at Hangyoreh School gargled with liquid fabric softener, mistaking it for mouthwash.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

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

From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2026

If you've been spitting, rinsing and gargling after every brush, you might want to rethink that last step.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2025

First, internet healers falsely suggested that gargling salt water and vinegar could prevent a coronavirus infection.

From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2024

We do have one caution about gargling, however.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 13, 2023

The turkeys—well, they sound like three thousand Grandpa Eds gargling Listerine.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti