gag

CEFRC1

/ˈɡeɪ̯ɡ/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Something put over a person's mouth to stop speech.

  2. 02

    verb

    To prevent someone from speaking or make them choke.

Examples

  • The bandits put a gag in his mouth.

  • Shall we pull a gag?

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An order or rule forbidding discussion of a case or subject.

  2. Any suppression of freedom of speech.

  3. 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.

More examples

In context

  • He gagged when he saw the open wound.

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

  • 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 bellie...

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The comedian told a funny blank that made everyone laugh.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

The noun is from Early Modern English gagge; the verb is from Middle English gaggen. Possibly imitative or perhaps related to or influenced by Old Norse gag-háls ("with head thrown backwards"; > Norwegian dialectal gaga (“bent backwards”)). The intransitive sense "to retch" is from 1707. The noun is from the 16th century, figurative use (for "repression of speech") from the 1620s. The secondary meaning "(practical) joke" is from 1863, of unclear origin.