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definitions

retch

[rech]
verb (used without object)
  1. to make efforts to vomit.
verb (used with object)
  1. to vomit.
noun
  1. the act or an instance of retching.

Origin of retch

1540–50; variant of reach, Old English hrǣcan to clear the throat (not recorded in ME), derivative of hrāca a clearing of the throat; compare Old Norse hrǣkja to hawk, spit
Can be confusedretch wretch
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for retched

gag, regurgitate, heave, eject, breathe, huff, groan, spew, vomit, puff, exhale, hurl, retch, upchuck, barf, expel, puke, emit, ruminate, discharge

Examples from the Web for retched

Contemporary Examples of retched

Historical Examples of retched

British Dictionary definitions for retched

retch

verb
  1. (intr) to undergo an involuntary spasm of ineffectual vomiting; heave
  2. to vomit
noun
  1. an involuntary spasm of ineffectual vomiting

Word Origin for retch

Old English hrǣcan; related to Old Norse hrǣkja to spit
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 retched

retch

v.

1540s, originally "to clear the throat, to cough up phlegm," from Old English hræcan "to cough up, spit" (related to hraca "phlegm"), from Proto-Germanic *khrækijanan (cf. Old High German rahhison "to clear one's throat"), of imitative origin (cf. Lithuanian kregeti "to grunt"). Meaning "to make efforts to vomit" is from 1850; sense of "to vomit" is first attested 1888. Related: Retched; retching.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
retched in Medicine

retch

[rĕch]
v.
  1. To try to vomit.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.