puke
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
pukes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
puked,
past participle, past
-
puking
present participle
noun
-
vomit.
-
-
any food or drink that is repulsive.
-
anything or anyone that is contemptible or worthless.
-
verb
noun
-
the act of vomiting
-
the matter vomited
Usage
What does puke mean? Puke is one of the many informal ways to refer to vomit.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pukesimple
-
pukessimple
-
have pukedperfect
-
has pukedperfect
-
am pukingprogressive
-
are pukingprogressive
-
is pukingprogressive
-
have been pukingperfect progressive
-
has been pukingperfect progressive
Past
-
pukedsimple
-
had pukedperfect
-
was pukingprogressive
-
were pukingprogressive
-
had been pukingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of puke
First recorded in 1590–1600; perhaps imitative of the sound
Vocabulary lists containing puke
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:
It’s going to be a long, hot summer for getting COVID, the measles, and milk-borne puke diseases!
From Slate ● Apr. 26, 2025
In Season 2, that was an episode titled "Milkmaids" which centered on people quite literally eating pus and made me also quite literally puke.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2024
I was telling my caddie Austin that I felt pretty calm coming down the stretch and he said he was about to puke on the 18th tee!
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2024
Cleaning up after the birds is an awful job: “Two to 3 inches of guano, these birds puke a lot, you get your flies, maggots — it makes you gag,” McFadden said.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 21, 2024
“I thought I was going to puke, that was so foul,” complained Seth.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
The puteketeke, a bird that pukes, grunts, growls and has bizarre mating rituals, won New Zealand’s bird of the century title in a competition where American-British comedian John Oliver's involvement has ruffled some local feathers.
From Reuters ● Nov. 20, 2023
She aspires to be a newscaster but is so camera shy she spectacularly pukes when the red light goes on.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
A scene or two later, the woman has come down with a sudden case of the pukes.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2019
“We were talking last night about how everything the baby does — even if it pukes everywhere — you say, ‘Good job!’”
From New York Times ● Jan. 2, 2019
“If anyone pukes, the other squadron wins,” Bull shouted above the din.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Nobody puked during one of the slasher films, and the eccentric local we refer to as “the velvet suit guy” behaved himself, for the most part.
From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2024
I always describe parenting as driving a stick-shift car while being punched in the face and puked on.
From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2022
During the “free fall,” I did a very-not-me, mini fist bump to the cameraman and then nearly puked when the parachute opened.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2022
That’s when I caught a case of severe norovirus and puked so hard that my water broke.
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2022
The question of whether he, Peter Jahrling, was infected with Ebola had become somewhat more pressing since the animal caretaker had puked on the lawn.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
She asks her daughter to call her, even if she is "puking up every warning that I gave you," and asks her to "never let shame stop you reaching for your phone".
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
The sellers are winners taking profits at prices of $90,000-plus, not losers puking at the bottom.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 17, 2025
Their top red-zone target was limited, and their defensive leader, Kamari Ramsey, was up all night puking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2025
During their first conversation another lady starts puking everywhere.
From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2024
They smelled so bad; if feet had taste buds, I’d be puking.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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.
