Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To force exhaled air through a liquid held in the back of the mouth, with the head tilted back, in order to cleanse or medicate the mouth or throat.
  • intransitive verb To produce the sound of gargling when speaking or singing.
  • intransitive verb To rinse or medicate (the mouth or throat) by gargling.
  • intransitive verb To circulate or apply (a medicine or solution) by gargling.
  • intransitive verb To utter with a gargling sound.
  • noun A medicated solution for gargling.
  • noun A gargling sound.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A distemper in swine; garget.
  • noun Any liquid preparation for rinsing the mouth and throat.
  • To wash or rinse, as the mouth or throat, with a liquid preparation, which is kept from descending into the stomach by a gentle expiration of air.
  • To warble.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Arch.) See gargoyle.
  • noun A liquid, as water or some medicated preparation, used to cleanse the mouth and throat, especially for a medical effect.
  • transitive verb To wash or rinse, as the mouth or throat, particular the latter, agitating the liquid (water or a medicinal preparation) by an expulsion of air from the lungs.
  • transitive verb obsolete To warble; to sing as if gargling.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive to clean one's mouth by holding water or some other liquid in the back of the mouth and blowing air out from the lungs
  • verb intransitive to make a sound like the one made while gargling
  • verb transitive to clean a specific part of the body by gargling (almost always throat or mouth)
  • verb transitive to use (a liquid) for purposes of cleaning one's mouth or throat by gargling.
  • verb to make a gargling sound.
  • noun a liquid used for gargling
  • noun the sound of gargling
  • noun slang lager, drink

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a medicated solution used for gargling and rinsing the mouth
  • verb utter with gargling or burbling sounds
  • verb rinse one's mouth and throat with mouthwash
  • noun the sound produced while gargling

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French gargouiller, from Old French.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French gargouiller ("to gargle"), from gargouille ("throat"). Compare gargoyle.

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Examples

  • She heard the word "gargle" for the first time the other day, and it joined the list of words deemed funny on the sheer merit of their sound and mouth feel.

    Archive 2008-05-01 kittenpie 2008

  • She heard the word "gargle" for the first time the other day, and it joined the list of words deemed funny on the sheer merit of their sound and mouth feel.

    kittenpie, where you been so long? kittenpie 2008

  • It is miserable to have to climb up on one's horse with a head like a buzz saw, the sun very hot, and "gargle" in one's water bottle.

    In Flanders Fields and Other Poems 1919

  • It is miserable to have to climb up on one's horse with a head like a buzz saw, the sun very hot, and "gargle" in one's water bottle.

    In Flanders Fields and Other Poems John McCrae 1895

  • Delete the 'gargle' meta key and value from Post 13.

    Codex - Recent changes [en] 2010

  • Delete the 'gargle' meta key and value from Post 13.

    Codex - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • Delete the 'gargle' meta key and value from Post 13.

    Codex - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • Delete the 'gargle' meta key and value from Post 13.

    Codex - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • Her tiny feet were wrapped in a woollen bundle, and rested on hot bricks, and her aching head was tied up in red flannel bandages that smelled of brandy; she had a mustard plaster on her chest, a cayenne pepper 'gargle' for her throat, and a cup of hot ginger tea stood at her elbow; her pretty nose was swollen out of shape, her bright eyes were red and inflamed, and little blisters had broken out all over those kissable lips; a very damp white handkerchief lay in her lap, and two great tears, that it had not yet wiped away, ran down her flushed cheeks.

    The Continental Monthly, Vol 2, No 6, December 1862 Devoted to Literature and National Policy Various

  • "The ransom is agreed to," said the red-headed boy, as he took off his string of feathers, and gave a yell, hitting his lips with the back of his hand so it would "gargle," "and the fire is out.

    Peck's Uncle Ike and The Red Headed Boy 1899 1878

Comments

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  • JM often gargles just to see if his throat leaks.

    July 17, 2011