retch

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“
In a few minutes he began to retch, and soon vomited a large quantity of clotted blood.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. intransitive verb To try to vomit.
  2. transitive verb To vomit.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

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Examples (50)

  • He held his head over the small sink and began to retch, bringing up bile and coffee-tinged vomit. —  Fatal Cure by Leonard Goldberg
  • Between every retch, Ellie prayed a time warp would open and swallow her into another dimension. —  Stephanie Bond - Irresistible
  • She felt as if she might retch, her stomach heaved, but somehow she managed to force the urge back. —  Lisa Jackson - Shiver
  • Liana's urge to retch was so great that Tierra felt it and thought she would, too. —  Cheyenne McCray - Spellbound.pdf.htm
  • It ended the sentence with a sound like a retch The men who killed Becket were punished for their crime. —  F ;SF - vol 089 issue 02 - August 1995
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This word has been looked up 105 times.

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Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Alteration of Middle English rechen, from Old English hrǣcan, to clear the throat, spit, bring up (phlegm).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. (a) from Middle English recchen, from Anglo-Saxon reccan, stretch, extend, hold forth (see under rack, v.); mixed in modern dial. use with (b) reach, from Middle English rechen, from Anglo-Saxon rǣcan, reach: see reach.
  2. Also formerly or dial. reach; from Middle English *rechen, from Anglo-Saxon hrǣcan, clear the throat, hawk, spit (cf. hrāca, spittle, expectoration, hrǣcea, hawking, clearing the throat, *hræcetan, hrǣctan, eructate, retch, hræcetung, retching), =Icelandic hrækja, hawk, spit (hrāki, spittle); cf. Old High German rachisōn, Middle High German rahsenen, hawk; prob. ult. imitative (cf. hawk). The Anglo-Saxon hrace, throat, =Middle Dutch raecke =Old High German rahho, Middle High German rache, German rachen, throat, jaws, are prob. unrelated.
  3. An assibilated form of reck.
 

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/rɛtʃ/
by American Heritage

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