I. gag 1 /ɡæɡ/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle gagged , present participle gagging )
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Origin: Probably from the sound of someone being prevented from breathing ]
1 . [intransitive] to be unable to swallow and feel as if you are about to bring up food from your stomach:
The foul smell made her gag.
gag on
He almost gagged on his first mouthful of food.
2 . [transitive] to put a piece of cloth over someone’s mouth to stop them making a noise:
Thugs gagged her and tied her to a chair.
He left his victim bound and gagged (=tied up and with something over their mouth that stops them speaking) .
3 . [transitive] to stop people saying what they want to say and expressing their opinions:
an attempt to gag political activists
⇨ ↑ gag order , ↑ gag rule
4 . be gagging to do something/be gagging for something British English informal to be very eager to do or have something:
They were gagging to sign the contract.
5 . be gagging for it British English informal to be very eager to have sex
II. gag 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . informal a joke or funny story:
He told a few gags.
It was a bit of a running gag (=a joke which is repeated) in the show.
2 . a piece of cloth put over someone’s mouth to stop them making a noise
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ joke a funny story that you tell people to make them laugh:
We all sat around telling jokes.
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Have you heard the joke about the man who found a frog in his soup?
▪ funny story a short story that someone tells to make people laugh:
He was one of those guys who are good at telling funny stories at dinner parties.
▪ gag a short joke, especially one told by a professional entertainer:
He’s a great comedian, with plenty of good gags.
▪ one-liner a very short joke or funny remark:
There are some memorable one-liners in the film.
▪ wisecrack a funny remark or reply, especially one that is said in a very quick and clever way:
It’s a comic masterpiece, packed with classic wisecracks.
▪ pun ( also play on words ) a joke made by mixing up two different meanings of the same word, or two words with the same sound:
a pun on the words ‘bear’ and ‘bare’
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The title of the book is a witty play on words.
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Shakespeare used a lot of puns for comic effect.
▪ quip written something funny and clever that someone says:
He made some friendly quip about hair loss, and everyone laughed.