Word.ws English Dictionary

gargle

UK/ˈɡɑːɡəl/US/ˈɡɑɹɡəl/

gargle verb: 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. Also the obsolete form of gargoyle.

Verb

gargle (third-person singular simple present gargles, present participle gargling, simple past and past participle gargled)

  1. (intransitive) 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.
    • She hated the poisoned feeling in her throat, and no matter how often she gargled she felt unclean and disgusting.1915 October, Willa Sibert Cather, chapter V, in The Song of the Lark, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], →OCLC, part III (Stupid Faces), page 285
  2. (intransitive) To make a sound like the one made while gargling.
  3. (transitive) To clean a specific part of the body by gargling (almost always throat or mouth).
    • They don't gargle their throats with anything stronger than coffee at this tavern.1893, Gilbert Parker, Mrs. Falchion
  4. (transitive) To use (a liquid) for purposes of cleaning one's mouth or throat by gargling.
    • Every morning he gargled a little cheap Scotch.
  5. (slang, transitive) To perform oral sex on (a person or genitals).
    • I'd like to gargle his marbles.2004 December 1, “Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset”, in South Park, season 8, episode 12

Noun

gargle (countable and uncountable, plural gargles)

  1. A liquid used for gargling.
    • But the case was pressing, and the nearest medical practitioner was sent for. On examining the throat, he expressed his desire that a physician should be called in, and accordingly a gentleman, duly authorized, made his appearance, and prescribed gargles and diluents secundem artem.1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 230-231
    • Take of borax 1 drm., tinc. of myrrh 1/2 oz., clarified honey 1 oz., rose or distilled water, 4 oz.; mix. To be used as a gargle or mouth wash in sore mouth or affection of the gums.1861, Young's Demonstrative Translation of Scientific Secrets
  2. (countable) The sound or act of gargling.
  3. (slang) Lager or other alcoholic drink.

Also used as

gargle is also the obsolete form of gargoyle.

gargle meaning in Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati and Tagalog

gargle in Tamil

to clean one's mouth
பிளிர் piḷir

gargle in Telugu

to clean one's mouth
పుక్కిలించు pukkiliñcu

gargle in Gujarati

to clean one's mouth
કોગળો કરવું kogaḷo karvũ

gargle in Tagalog

to clean one's mouth
magmumog
More languagesFewer languages
gargle in Arabic
تَمَضْمَضَ tamaḍmaḍa, غَرْغَرَ ḡarḡara, سَائِل الْغَرْغَرَة sāʔil al-ḡarḡara
gargle in Persian
غرغره کردن ġerġere kardan, غرغره ġerġere
gargle in Thai
กลั้ว glûua

Synonyms of gargle

Forms of gargle

Verb
third-person singular presentgargles
present participlegargling
past participlegargled
pastgargled
Noun
pluralgargles

Past tense of gargle: gargled

Origin of gargle

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).

Words formed from gargle

Words that rhyme with gargle

Questions about gargle

What does gargle mean?
Gargle means 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.
What is gargle in Tamil?
Gargle in Tamil is பிளிர் (piḷir). See Gargle meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is gargle?
Gargle can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce gargle?
Gargle is pronounced /ˈɡɑːɡəl/ (UK).
What is the past tense of gargle?
The past tense of gargle is gargled.

Words near gargle in the dictionary

  1. Gargett
  2. Gargetts
  3. gargety
  4. Gargiulo
  5. Gargiulos
  6. gargle
  7. gargle-factories
  8. gargle-factory
  9. gargled
  10. Garglegate
  11. gargler

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gargle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-gargle.ogg.

Cite this entry: “gargle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gargle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.