Word.ws English Dictionary

retches

retches is the third-person singular simple present indicative of retch.

Meaning of retch

Verb (1)

retch (third-person singular simple present retches, present participle retching, simple past and past participle retched)

  1. (intransitive, transitive) 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)
  2. (broadly, intransitive, transitive) 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

Verb (2)

retch (third-person singular simple present retches, present participle retching, simple past and past participle retched)

  1. (ambitransitive, obsolete) To reck.

See all 4 meanings of retch

Questions about retches

What is retches the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Retches is the third-person singular simple present indicative of retch.

Words near retches in the dictionary

  1. retaxing
  2. retch
  3. retched
  4. retcher
  5. retchers
  6. retches
  7. retching
  8. retchings
  9. retchless
  10. retchlesse
  11. retchlessness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: retches (page history and authors); 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.

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