Word: gag Part of Speech: noun Etymology: The noun is from Early Modern English gagge; the verb is from Middle English gaggen. Possibly imitative or perhaps related to or influenced by Old Norse gag-háls ("with head thrown backwards"; > Norwegian dialectal gaga (“bent backwards”)). The intransitive sense "to retch" is from 1707. The noun is from the 16th century, figurative use (for "repression of speech") from the 1620s. The secondary meaning "(practical) joke" is from 1863, of unclear origin. Pronunciation: /ˈɡæɡ/, [ˈɡæɡ], /ˈɡeɪ̯ɡ/, [ˈɡeɪ̯ɡ] 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Blood may seep to the back of the throat and may clot, producing an “artificial gag” of clotted blood. 2. An order or rule forbidding discussion of a case or subject. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. Any suppression of freedom of speech. Labels: countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: Civil Court blocks PM's gag on free speech 4. A joke or other mischievous prank. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. 5. a device or trick used to create a practical effect; a gimmick Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. 6. A convulsion of the upper digestive tract. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. A mouthful that makes one retch or choke. Labels: archaic, countable, uncountable Example: L. has recorded the repugnance of the school to gags, or the fat of fresh beef boiled, and sets it down to some superstition. Example: ...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,... 8. Unscripted lines introduced by an actor into his part. Labels: archaic, slang, uncountable Example: "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. Example: […] 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. 9. Any of species Mycteroperca microlepis of groupers. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The shallow water groups (Family Serranidae), including gag (Mycteroperca microlepis), black grouper (M. bonaci), scamp (M. phenax), and red grouper (Epinephalus morio), support major commercial and recreational fisheries in the southeastern United States. 10. A shocking or surprising thing. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: That’s why it was a surprise when Elecktra Bionic won instead of her. No queen in Drag Race history had ever won with no challenge wins before Elecktra, so to say it was a gag would be an understatement.