Meaning

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

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive, intransitive) To make or experience an unsuccessful effort to vomit; to strain or spasm, as if to vomit; to gag or nearly vomit.
2. (transitive, intransitive, loosely) To vomit; to make or experience a successful effort to vomit.
3. An unsuccessful effort to vomit.
4. (ambitransitive, obsolete) To reck.
5. (dialectal) Alternative form of reach.

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 […]

[…] retching the contents of his breakfast – his fabled raw eggs and beer by the look of it – up onto the sidewalk. But some sort of salvation seemed to be at hand in the shape of a young woman who now came up to the retching poet.[…]

“What manner of being are you?” I cried. The creature's black tar viscera flew from the lacerated stump, covering Mary and myself in the fluid. I recall instantly retching the contents of my stomach, while simultaneously […]

Retching the contents from his lungs. The uncomfortable warble of voices called for help, greeting him at the floor. He was laid on a gurney, the slimy contents wiped from his face. The sting of needles inserted in his arms.

Word Forms

• retches
• retching
• retched
• reach
• raught

Synonyms for retch

Antonyms for retch

Related Words

When Should You Use Retch?

Use retch when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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