retch
/ɹɛt͡ʃ/
retch verb: to make or experience an unsuccessful effort to vomit; to strain or spasm, as if to vomit; to gag or nearly vomit. Also the alternative form of reach.
Verb (1)
retch (third-person singular simple present retches, present participle retching, simple past and past participle retched)
- To make or experience an unsuccessful effort to vomit; to strain or spasm, as if to vomit; to gag or nearly vomit.
- Here he grew inarticulate with retching.1819–1824, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London, (please specify |canto=I to XVII)
- To vomit; to make or experience a successful effort to vomit.
- […] in a couple of hours they were seized with violent retching; the contents of their stomachs were mixed with blood, mucus, and froth.1836, The Medico-chirurgical Review, and Journal of Practical Medicine, page 462
- […] severe, with a heavy retching; the contents of the stomach would come up rather easily at first, but as it continued the retching became more severe. By the straining to vomit, all the symptoms were […]1891, Cincinnati Medical Advance, page 101
Noun
retch (plural retches)
- An unsuccessful effort to vomit.
Verb (2)
retch (third-person singular simple present retches, present participle retching, simple past and past participle retched)
- To reck.
Also used as
retch is also the alternative form of reach.
retch meaning in Tagalog, Persian and Vietnamese
retch in Tagalog
- to make an effort to vomit
- maduwal
- an unsuccessful effort to vomit
- duwal
retch in Persian
- an unsuccessful effort to vomit
- هراش harâš
retch in Vietnamese
- to make an effort to vomit
- ọe
Examples of retch in a sentence
- […] retching the contents of his breakfast – his fabled raw eggs and beer by the look of it – up onto the sidewalk.2014 April 7, Rob Gittins, The Poet and the Private Eye, Y Lolfa, →ISBN:
- I recall instantly retching the contents of my stomach, while simultaneously […]2014 June 4, Jake E. Sampson, The Resurrectionist, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 37:
Forms of retch
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | retches |
| present participle | retching |
| past participle | retched |
| past | retched |
| alternative form | reach |
| past participle (obsolete) | raught |
| past (obsolete) | raught |
| Noun | |
| plural | retches |
Origin of retch
From Middle English *recchen, *rechen (attested in arechen), hræcen (“to cough up”), from Old English hrǣċan (“to clear the throat, hawk, spit”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrākijan, from Proto-Germanic *hrēkijaną (“to clear one's throat”), from Proto-Indo-European *kreg- (“to caw, crow”). Cognate with Icelandic hrækja (“to hawk, spit”), Limburgish räöke (“to induce vomiting”), Bavarian reckn (“to retch, gag”) and German recken (“to retch, gag”). Also related with German Rachen (“throat”).
From Middle English recchen (“to care; heed”), from Old English rēċċan, variant of rēċan (“to care; reck”), from Proto-Germanic *rōkijaną (“to care”), from Proto-Indo-European *reǵ- (“straight, right, just”).
From Middle English recchen, from Old English reċċan (“to stretch, extend”), from Proto-West Germanic *rakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *rakjaną (“to straighten, stretch”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃roǵéyeti.
Words formed from retch
Words that rhyme with retch
5 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about retch
- What does retch mean?
- Retch means to make or experience an unsuccessful effort to vomit; to strain or spasm, as if to vomit; to gag or nearly vomit.
- What is retch in Tagalog?
- Retch in Tagalog is maduwal, duwal. See Retch meaning in Tagalog.
- How do you use retch in a sentence?
- […] retching the contents of his breakfast – his fabled raw eggs and beer by the look of it – up onto the sidewalk.
- What part of speech is retch?
- Retch can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce retch?
- Retch is pronounced /ɹɛt͡ʃ/.
- What is the past tense of retch?
- The past tense of retch is retched.
Words near retch in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: retch (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-retch.wav.
Cite this entry: “retch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/retch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.