retch

Definition

To make or experience an unsuccessful effort to vomit; to strain or spasm, as if to vomit; to gag or nearly vomit.

Etymology

From Middle English *recchen, *rechen (attested in arechen), hræcen (“to cough up”), from Old English hrǣċan (“to clear the throat, hawk, spit”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrākijan, from Proto-Germanic *hrēkijaną (“to clear one's throat”), from Proto-Indo-European *kreg- (“to caw, crow”). Cognate with Icelandic hrækja (“to hawk, spit”), Limburgish räöke (“to induce vomiting”), Bavarian reckn (“to retch, gag”) and German recken (“to retch, gag”). Also related with German Rachen (“throat”).

Example Sentences

• "Here he grew inarticulate with retching."
• "[…] in a couple of hours they were seized with violent retching; the contents of their stomachs were mixed with blood, mucus, and froth."
• "[…] severe, with a heavy retching; the contents of the stomach would come up rather easily at first, but as it continued the retching became more severe. By the straining to vomit, all the symptoms were […]"