Gag

/ˈɡæɡ/ · noun

Meaning

A device to restrain speech, such as a rag in the mouth secured with tape or a rubber ball threaded onto a cord or strap..

Definitions by Sense

1. A device to restrain speech, such as a rag in the mouth secured with tape or a rubber ball threaded onto a cord or strap.
2. (law) An order or rule forbidding discussion of a case or subject.
3. (figurative) Any suppression of freedom of speech.
4. A joke or other mischievous prank.
5. (film) a device or trick used to create a practical effect; a gimmick
6. A convulsion of the upper digestive tract.
7. (archaic) A mouthful that makes one retch or choke.
8. (archaic, slang, uncountable) Unscripted lines introduced by an actor into his part.

Example Sentences

Blood may seep to the back of the throat and may clot, producing an “artificial gag” of clotted blood.

Civil Court blocks PM's gag on free speech

We all know how genius “Kamp Krusty,” “A Streetcar Named Marge,” “Homer The Heretic,” “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” and “Mr. Plow” are, but even the relatively unheralded episodes offer wall-to-wall laughs and some of the smartest, darkest, and weirdest gags ever Trojan-horsed into a network cartoon with a massive family audience.

On Hacksaw Ridge, Oliver and his team of effects artisans devised gags for that spectacular flamethrower shot along with other devastating body and bullet hits, and several mortar and full-scale explosions, all aimed at communicating the reality of battle.

L. has recorded the repugnance of the school to gags, or the fat of fresh beef boiled, and sets it down to some superstition.

...and to take that fire behind the bony bars of the chest and into the tower of the windpipe, in one breath, before you choke on a gag of air thickened from the last breath of the executed the breathing of hot barrels and blood streaming on concrete,...

"The Critic" has long been known in the theatre as a "gag-piece;" that is, a play which the performers consider themselves entitled to treat with the most merciless licence.

[…] and my actors imbibe a reverence for their author, sir, which reverence I regret to observe is fast vanishing, in other places, under the baneful influence of gag, sir, gag! We play no pranks with the text, sir, in my company; if you cannot improve your author, which is generally doubtful, don't make him worse than he is.

Synonyms for gag

Antonyms for gag

Related Words

Word Forms

• gags
• gagging
• gagged

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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