retch

verb

ˈrech How to pronounce retch (audio)
especially British
ˈrēch How to pronounce retch (audio)
retched; retching; retches

intransitive verb

: to make an effort to vomit
also : vomit
retch noun

Examples of retch in a Sentence

the smell of rotten cabbage makes me retch
Recent Examples on the Web By contrast, Garner and Helms are game for anything — including belching, farting and retching — but all their enthusiastic mugging can’t mask the fact that CC and Wyatt aren’t much more than a stereotypical surly teen and a stereotypical geek. Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019 The camera then cut to the princess in the bathroom, retching. Louis Staples, Rolling Stone, 18 Nov. 2023 There are two kinds of moms: the mom who retches at the thought of matching her children, and the mom who stocks her daughter's closet full of tiny nap dresses. Woman's Day, 21 July 2023 Overtaken by rekindled emotions — and liquid courage — Turizo ends up retching into the nightclub’s toilet while an unmasked Marshmello listens from the next stall over. Thania Garcia, Variety, 2 Mar. 2023 And when that vomiting is particularly severe, or when patients retch really hard, the pressure inside the esophagus becomes unbearable. Douglas G. Adler, Discover Magazine, 14 Dec. 2021 Woody Harrelson pops in as the yacht’s Marxist captain, who drunkenly swaps bon mots about socialism with a Ronald Reagan-quoting Russian manure magnate as passengers reel and retch around them. Sara Stewart, CNN, 1 Dec. 2022 The silverback smelled the smoke from our fire and began roaring and retching to intimidate us. Jerome Lewis, Scientific American, 26 Apr. 2020 There was one who’d set fire to her own locker, another who quietly cut her arms and legs, another who regularly ran herself to exhaustion around the track and then made retching sounds in the bathroom. Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'retch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English *rechen to spit, retch, from Old English hrǣcan to spit, hawk; akin to Old Norse hrækja to spit

First Known Use

1538, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of retch was in 1538

Dictionary Entries Near retch

Cite this Entry

“Retch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retch. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

retch

verb
ˈrech How to pronounce retch (audio)
British
rēch How to pronounce retch (audio)
1
2
: to try to vomit

Medical Definition

retch

intransitive verb
ˈrech, especially British ˈrēch
: to make an effort to vomit
retch noun

More from Merriam-Webster on retch

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