gargle

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To clean one's mouth by holding water or some other liquid in the back of the mouth and blowing air out from the lungs.
  2. To make a sound like the one made while gargling.
  3. To clean a specific part of the body by gargling (almost always throat or mouth).
  4. To use (a liquid) for purposes of cleaning one's mouth or throat by gargling.
  5. To perform oral sex on (a person or genitals).
noun
  1. A liquid used for gargling.
  2. The sound or act of gargling.
  3. Lager or other alcoholic drink.
noun
  1. Obsolete form of gargoyle.

Pronunciation

/ˈɡɑːɡəl/ /ˈɡɑɹɡəl/ /ˈɡɐːɡəl/ En-au-gargle.ogg

Word forms

gargle gargles gargling gargled

Etymology

From French gargouiller (“to gargle”), from Old French gargouille, gargole (“gutter, throat”). Compare gargoyle and Spanish garganta. Displaced non-native Middle English gargargisen (“to gargle”) from Latin, and native Old English swillan (“to gargle”) (ancestor of English swill).

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.