Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. 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.
- v. To produce the sound of gargling when speaking or singing.
- v. To rinse or medicate (the mouth or throat) by gargling.
- v. To circulate or apply (a medicine or solution) by gargling.
- v. To utter with a gargling sound.
- n. A medicated solution for gargling.
- n. A gargling sound.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- 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.
- n. Any liquid preparation for rinsing the mouth and throat.
- n. A distemper in swine; garget. See second extract.
Wiktionary
- v. 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
- v. intransitive to make a sound like the one made while gargling
- v. transitive to clean a specific part of the body by gargling (almost always throat or mouth)
- v. transitive to use (a liquid) for purposes of cleaning one's mouth or throat by gargling.
- v. to make a gargling sound.
- n. a liquid used for gargling
- n. the sound of gargling
- n. slang lager, drink
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Arch.) See gargoyle.
- v. 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.
- v. obsolete To warble; to sing as if gargling.
- n. A liquid, as water or some medicated preparation, used to cleanse the mouth and throat, especially for a medical effect.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a medicated solution used for gargling and rinsing the mouth
- v. utter with gargling or burbling sounds
- v. rinse one's mouth and throat with mouthwash
- n. the sound produced while gargling
Etymologies
- From Old French gargouiller ("to gargle"), from gargouille ("throat"). Compare gargoyle. (Wiktionary)
- French gargouiller, from Old French. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
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.”
“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.”
“Delete the 'gargle' meta key and value from Post 13.”
“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
“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.”
“All of the remakes lately have been that gross blue cheese sort of cheesey that lingers on your tongue for a while and makes you gargle with antibacterial mouth wash later.”
New Clash of the Titans Posters x3 « Giant Killer Squid - Film, Comics, News, Reviews and more
“Use it to gargle your throat a couple of times, tilt your head back and apply some in your nostrils with a dropper, paint your nostrils using a Q-tip or your pinky (after you wash it first).”
“If you're feeling the tickling of the beginning of getting sick, go get some garlic, chop two or three balls up and swallow a bunch of them whole and gargle the rest of it and you will only be sick for maybe twelve hours.”
“Have your child gargle with tepid water and drink clear fluids”
“Brandy enemas, a strychnine injection, a sulphuric acid gargle, ammonia rubbed on the lips, and three and a half pints of blood taken from a man with pneumonia are all recorded as attempted cures in a century of gruesome and fascinating journals of Royal Navy ship surgeons revealed at the National Archives: all failed.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘gargle’.
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Sounds
words that describe sound
atchoo, atishoo, babble, bam, bay, beep, blast, blather, bleat, bleep, blip, bong and 242 more...
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sound (quiet)
words for quiet sounds
( randomness, descriptive )sigh, murmur, whisper, whir, rustle, patter, hum, snap, hiss(sss), crackle, bleat, peep and 185 more...
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Junk
walrus, fascination, broadway, fickle, downturn, bridge, gargle, rotunda, mesh, fab, shortlife, strumming and 304 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Malachi_Constant's Words
triumverate, pandemic, parsnip, delineate, zamboni, parka, laser, swoop, malevolent, benevolent, fracas, tipsy and 372 more...
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Gigglesomes
Words that make me giggle.
sackbut, beshrew, hubbub, futz, tchotchke, oolong, newt, dingo, squishy, fjord, squirt, dangler and 107 more...
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Words that are fun to say
stipple, carbuncle, dongle, exemplar, misbegotten, gigolo, salubrious, jupiter, propinquity, piglet, tobogganing, supercilious and 309 more...
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Kaichi's Wordie Darlings, or I'm a Lo...
persnickety, discombobulated, braggadoccio, anthropomorphous, antelucan, confluxible, anomalous, poseur, gallivant, poppycock, falderal, gewgaw and 705 more...
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jmjarmstrong's list
Words that I used to know.
geloscopy, hunker, willy nilly, harum scarum, whacko, meh, nork, misunderestimate, atrabiliousness, luftmensch, auxanometer, hyperhedonia and 1948 more...
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hustle & bustle
-le verbs
gargle, dangle, dingle, bristle, cajole, girdle, doodle, stumble, wamble, jostle, hustle, bustle and 61 more...
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verb
that's what's happening...
slither, galumph, bamboozle, befuddle, burgle, fluster, chortle, commiserate, finagle, flummox, filch, gargle and 77 more...
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Random as Possible
just be random
wombat, nargles, isn't it with a g, gnargles, gargle, rawr, lion, kipper, tea, english, no, it's nargles ..., moo and 68 more...
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squeally
dirty descriptive words, Chad Merks' shit...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for gargle.

jmjarmstrong JM often gargles just to see if his throat leaks. Jul 16, 2011