gack

Definition

A sharp, sudden sound from someone's throat while they're coughing, vomiting, gagging, etc.

Etymology

Apparently onomatopoeic and believed to have first appeared in comic strips. Compare gag (“to choke; to retch”) and hack (“to cough noisily”). The "cocaine" and "meth" senses apparently comes from the fact that snorting the drugs often activates a person's gag reflex.

Example Sentences

• "Sports was immediately consigned to a recycle pile where it was handy in case she heard the unmistakable gack-gack-gack machine-gun regurgitation sound of Midnight Louie about to deposit a hairball on some particularly cherished piece of paper or furniture."
• "With loud pops, a cloud of blue smoke exploded from the beetle's behind. A steaming spray that stunk worse than burning rubber shot into the air. "Ack!" gagged Andrew. "Gack! Gack! Gack!" coughed Judy."
• "Gravity does the rest as Jane's vomit spills back into her trachea. Guck-guck-^([sic]) GACK...guck-gack....GACK! GACK!...GACK!"