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gag

 - 10 dictionary results

gag

1[gag] verb, gagged, gag⋅ging, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to stop up the mouth of (a person) by putting something in it, thus preventing speech, shouts, etc.
2. to restrain by force or authority from freedom of speech; silence.
3. to fasten open the jaws of, as in surgical operations.
4. to cause to retch or choke.
5. Metalworking. to straighten or bend (a bar, rail, etc.) with a gag.
–verb (used without object)
6. to retch or choke.
–noun
7. something put into a person's mouth to prevent speech, shouting, etc.
8. any forced or arbitrary suppression of freedom of speech.
9. a surgical instrument for holding the jaws open.
10. Metalworking. a shaped block of steel used with a press to straighten or bend a bar, rail, etc.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME gaggen to suffocate; perh. imit. of the sound made in choking


2. curb, stifle, suppress.

gag

2[gag] noun, verb, gagged, gag⋅ging. Informal.
–noun
1. a joke, esp. one introduced into a script or an actor's part.
2. any contrived piece of wordplay or horseplay.
–verb (used without object)
3. to tell jokes or make amusing remarks.
4. to introduce gags in acting.
5. to play on another's credulity, as by telling false stories.
–verb (used with object)
6. to introduce usually comic interpolations into (a script, an actor's part, or the like) (usually fol. by up).

Origin:
1770–80; perh. special use of gag 1 ; cf. ON gagg yelp

gag

3[gag]
–noun, plural (especially collectively) gag, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) gags.
1. a serranid game fish, Mycteroperca microlepsis, found along the southeastern coast of the U.S.
2. any of several related fishes.

Origin:
1880–85, Americanism; orig. uncert.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To gag
gag   (gāg)   
n.  
  1. Something forced into or put over the mouth to prevent speaking or crying out.

  2. An obstacle to or a censoring of free speech.

  3. A device placed in the mouth to keep it open, as in dentistry.

    1. A practical joke.

    2. A comic effect or remark. See Synonyms at joke.

  4. The act or an instance of gagging or choking.

v.   gagged, gag·ging, gags

v.   tr.
  1. To prevent from speaking or crying out by using a gag.

  2. To stop or restrain from exercising free speech: censorship laws aimed at gagging the press.

  3. To cause to choke, retch, or undergo a regurgitative spasm.

  4. To keep (the mouth) open by using a gag.

  5. To block off or obstruct (a pipe or valve, for example).

v.   intr.
    1. To experience a regurgitative spasm in the throat, as from revulsion to a food or smell or in reflexive response to an introduced object.

    2. To retch or choke.

  1. To make jokes or quips.


[From Middle English gaggen, to suffocate, perhaps of imitative origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
gag [gæg]

  1. n.
    a joke; a trick. : What a great gag! Everybody will love it.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

gag  (v.)
c.1440, "to choke, strangle," possibly imitative or influenced by O.N. gaghals "with head thrown back." The sense of "stop a person's mouth" is first attested 1509. The noun is 1553, from the verb.

gag  (n.)
"joke," 1823, probably related to theatrical sense of "matter interpolated in a written piece by the actor" (1847), or from slang verbal sense of "to deceive, take in with talk" (1777), both on notion of "stuff, fill" (see gag (v.)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

gag (gāg)
v. gagged, gag·ging, gags

  1. To choke, retch, or undergo a regurgitative spasm.

  2. To prevent from talking.

n.
An instrument adjusted between the teeth to keep the mouth from closing during operations in the mouth or throat.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

gag
Equivalent to choke, but connotes more disgust. "Hey, this is Fortran code. No wonder the C compiler gagged." See also barf.
[The Jargon File]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
GAG
Graphic Artists Guild
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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