Definition of "gag" in English

noun

1. A device to restrain speech, such as a rag in the mouth secured with tape or a rubber ball threaded onto a cord or strap.

2. (law) An order or rule forbidding discussion of a case or subject.

3. (figurative) Any suppression of freedom of speech.

4. A joke or other mischievous prank.

5. (film) a device or trick used to create a practical effect; a gimmick

6. A convulsion of the upper digestive tract.

7. (archaic) A mouthful that makes one retch or choke.

8. (archaic, slang, uncountable) Unscripted lines introduced by an actor into his part.

9. Mycteroperca microlepis, a species of grouper.

verb

1. (intransitive) To experience the vomiting reflex.

   • He gagged when he saw the open wound.

2. (transitive) To cause to heave with nausea.

3. (transitive) To restrain someone's speech by blocking his or her mouth.

4. (transitive) To pry or hold open by means of a gag.

   • 1917, Francis Gregor (translator), De Laudibus Legum Angliae, Sir John Fortescue, written 1468–1471, first published 1543. […] some have their mouths gagged to such a wideness, for a long time, whereat such quantities of water are poured in, that their bellies swell to a prodigious degree […]

5. (transitive, figuratively) To restrain someone's speech without using physical means.

   • When the financial irregularities were discovered, the CEO gagged everyone in the accounting department.

6. (ambitransitive) To choke; to retch.

7. (ambitransitive, obsolete, slang) To deceive (someone); to con.

8. (transitive, LGBTQ slang) To astonish (someone); to leave speechless.