gacks

Verb (1)

gack (third-person singular simple present gacks, present participle gacking, simple past and past participle gacked)

1. (intransitive) To make a sharp, sudden sound in one's throat, such as before vomiting or while coughing, gagging, etc.
   • I slipped the punch, dropped the paper, and closed my right hand around his throat. I backed him into his desk and pushed him onto his back. […] He rubbed his throat, gacked like a cat spitting up a hair ball.1999, Dennis Lehane, Payers for Rain, 1st edition, New York: William Morrow and Company, →ISBN, page 31
2. (intransitive) To vomit, throw up.
   • I mean, if cheese could make me gack, you know that poop snake, coiled around that worthless pen, wasn't going to calm my jumpy stomach down.1996, Pat Pollari, Barf-o-Rama: The Legend of Bigfart, Transworld Books, published 1997, →ISBN, page 6
3. (transitive) To cough something up.
   • It reminded me of the time Willy tried to get a whole hamburger in his mouth on a bet. […] he almost choked to death before we figured out how to do the Heimlich maneuver on him. […] finally Pete Honer said, "He's turning blue," and we all just grabbed something and squeezed and he gacked it up and...2006, Gary Paulsen, The Amazing Life of Birds, 1st edition, Wendy Lam Books, →ISBN, page 12
4. (intransitive) To choke (be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe)
   • […] Chutsky came around and kicked the other one in the throat, so hard I could hear it crack, and he went over backward making gacking noises and clutching at his windpipe.u2010, Jeff Lindsay, Dexter is Delicious, Orion Books, →ISBN, page 340
5. (intransitive) To choke (experience tightness in one's throat as a result of strong emotion)
   • My throat made some gacking noises, though. No, no crying! Stiff lip, stiff lip, stiff lip—you got an interview! I stood in the kitchen, shaking and swallowing everything down.2010, Yxta Maya Murray, The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Kidnapped, Penguin Group, →ISBN, page 178

Verb (2)

gack (third-person singular simple present gacks, present participle gacking, simple past and past participle gacked)

1. To call in response to disturbance.
   • During a disturbance the young run to the water and dive from fear, […] On other occasions the adults swim or walk about, incessantly gacking.1977, Jon Fjeldså, Guide to the Young of European Precocial Birds, →ISBN, page 59

See all 12 meanings of gack