gagn.1
/ɡaɡ/, U.S. /ɡæɡ/ 1.
a. Something thrust into the mouth to keep it open and prevent speech or outcry; in Surgery, an apparatus for distending the jaws during an operation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > loss or lack of voice > [noun] > silence or not uttering > putting to silence > one who or that which > gag
gag1553
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 117 b Musicians in England have vsed to put gagges in childrens mouthes that they might pronounce distinctely.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. ii. sig. Kk1v They lefte Miso with a gagge in her mouth, and bound hande and foote.
1640 J. Fletcher & J. Shirley Night-walker iii. sig. F4 Vnty his feete, pull out his gagge, He will choake else.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 114 Some..With gags and muzzles their soft Mouths restrain. View more context for this quotation
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) III. 359 He put a gag in my mouth, and..fastened my hands behind my back.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. iv. iv. 158 Lest he should address the people, a gag was stuffed into his mouth.
1857 W. Collins Dead Secret II. v. ii. 105 If I only knew where to lay my hand on a gag, I'd cram it into your..mouth!
1885 E. F. Du Cane Punishm. & Prevent. Crime 14 For women scolds the branks or gag..were authorised punishments.
b. figurative. (Now often applied opprobriously to the action of a parliamentary majority in ‘closuring’ a debate.) Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > [noun] > that which
lockeOE
floodgatec1230
stopc1508
staya1533
snub1581
prevention1584
embarment1606
allay1607
spar1614
counterchecka1616
gag1618
preventivea1639
check1661
preventative1691
embargo1692
closed door1934
policeman1951
block-
1618 T. Adams Happines of Church ii. 311 The Eye-lid is sette open with the gagges of Lust and Enuie.
1623 J. Heigham (title) The gagge of the reformed gospell.
1641 J. Milton Animadversions 8 Your Monkish prohibitions, and expurgatorious indexes, your gags and snaffles.
1707 J. Stevens tr. F. de Quevedo Comical Wks. (1709) 249 It was convenient to stop his Mouth with a Silver Gag.
1798 Aurora (Philadelphia) 1 Aug. Query have the Cherokees any gag-bill?
1840 J. Q. Adams Mem. X. 273 Then came Atherton, of New Hampshire, the man of the mongrel gag.
1861 Congress. Globe App. 49/1 The Pacific railroad bill, just passed through this House under the ‘gag’, and in violation of the constitution.
1863 W. Phillips Speeches xix. 427 The nineteenth century requires sterner gags than the eighteenth.
1890 Spectator 6 Sept. The American Senate has adopted the principle of fixing a time at which the vote on a Bill resisted by obstruction must be taken..The House of Representatives has already adopted this peremptory ‘gag’.
c. School slang. (See quot. 1820) Cf. gag v.1 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fat or oil > [noun] > dripping or skimming
flotc1400
flotessec1440
dripping1463
range1469
kitchen-feec1485
kitchen stuff1565
kitchen-gain1589
gag1820
beef-fat1836
fond1965
1820 C. Lamb in London Mag. Nov. 485/2 L. has recorded the repugnance of the school to gags, or the fat of fresh beef boiled.
2. Coal Mining. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. I4v Gag, a slight bit of Timber that is soon made for the present purpose, to clap in..to keep some one Pair or more from settling, which is already begun, and so to stay it for some little time, till better may be had.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Gags, chips of wood in a sinking pit bottom, or sump.
1888 G. C. Greenwell Gloss. Terms Coal Trade Northumberland & Durham (ed. 3) 42 Gag, an obstruction in the falls or lids of a bucket or clack which prevents them from working.
3. Theatre.
a. Expressions, remarks, etc. not occurring in the written piece but interpolated or substituted by the actor.Perhaps developed from the sense explained in quot. 1747 at sense 2 under 2, which possibly may have been current in other than mining applications. But cf. gag n.2, gag v.3
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > words spoken by actors > types of
cue1553
anteloquy1623
aside1728
catchword1755
side soliloquy1842
gag1847
gravy1864
fluff1891
laugh line1913
rhubarb1919
curtain line1939
walla1949
1847 Illustr. London News 10 July 27/1 Actors who are too much given to ‘gag’ at the present day.
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 126/2 The performances consisted of all gag. I don't suppose anybody knows what the words are in the piece.
1884 J. A. Symonds Shakspere's Predecessors viii. 288 Jigs were written in rhyme, plentifully interspersed with gag and extempore action.
1887 W. P. Frith Autobiogr. I. xxv. 383 If he [the actor] found his gag tell upon the audience he repeated it.
b. ? The ‘mounting’ of a piece. rare.
ΚΠ
1841 Punch 1 106/1 I shall do the liberal in the way of terms, and get up the gag properly, with laurels and other greens, of which I have a large stock on hand.
c. A joke; a humorous remark, situation, action, etc. Cf. gag n.2, esp. quots. 1819 and 1880.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [noun] > jest or pleasantry > a jest or joke
gameOE
jape1377
bourda1387
mirthc1390
mowa1393
chapec1400
skauncec1440
sport?1449
popc1540
flirt1549
jest1551
merriment1576
shifta1577
facetiae1577
gig1590
pleasantry1594
lepidity1647
rallery1653
drollery1654
wit-crack1662
joco1663
pleasance1668
joke1670
jocunditya1734
quizzification1801
funniment1826
side-splitter1834
funniness1838
quizzery1841
jocularity1846
rib-tickler1855
jocosity1859
humorism1860
gag1863
gas1914
nifty1918
mirthquaker1921
rib1929
boffo1934
giggle1936
1863 H. Morford Sprees & Splashes i. 12 All play~goers will remember..a piece of pure nonsense by Brougham, in which an old hunks is intruded upon by his daughter's lover in disguise, the whole farce crowded full of gags.
1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves xv. 195 That..curate wanted to give the public some rotten little fairy play..without one good laugh or the semblance of a gag in it.
1929 M. Lief Hangover 235 Maybe I can tell you about the gag one of our better-known critics pulled in his review of Dillingham's new musical comedy..he wrote: ‘Eulalia Duncan sang so off-key last night that she had great difficulty moving her vowels.’
1965 New Statesman 16 Apr. 607/1 Braid Scots is spoken only by comedians, as a gag.
1965 New Statesman 16 Apr. 621/1 Chekhov, still a one-word gag about gloom to P. G. Wodehouse and Noel Coward.
Compounds
attributive and in other combinations:
gag-bill n. a theatrical bill summarizing the sensational episodes of a play.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > theatrical equipment or accessories > [noun] > advertising bill > types of
text-bill1610
benefit-bill1755
star bill1876
gag-bill1885
1885 J. K. Jerome On Stage 147 The old man has got the knack of making out good gag bills.
gag-bit n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. 205 Gag-bit, a bit of very powerful description, used for breaking horses, &c.
gag-book n. a book containing gags; a joke-book.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [noun] > jest or pleasantry > a jest or joke > comic or joke book
jest-book1750
comic book1904
gag-book1909
1909 B. Williams Actor's Story xix. 259 Not having a ‘gag’ book I had to think how to adapt a scene suitable for my particular line of business.
1961 Guardian 23 June 7/5 Peter de Vries's latest novel..reads like a gag-book.
gag-eater n. School slang (see 1c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating specific substances or food > [noun] > eating of other substances > eaters of other substances
fig-eater1552
cheese eater1603
oat-eatera1668
bean-eater1710
cake eater1791
gag-eater1820
haggis-eater1834
gum-chewer1850
pie-biter1863
nut-eater1878
toxiphagus-
1820 C. Lamb in London Mag. Nov. 485/2 A gag-eater in our time was equivalent to a goul, and held in equal detestation.
gag-law n. U.S. ‘a law or regulation made and enforced for the purpose of preventing or restricting discussion’ ( Cent. Dict.).
ΚΠ
1808 J. Q. Adams Wks. (1854) IX. 604 I would not repeal it, though it should raise a clamor as loud as my gag-law.
1870 R. W. Emerson Society & Solitude 214 No exclusions, no gag-laws can be contrived.
1882 Times 28 Mar. 9/4 The strange instrument [the Cloture]..which a few years ago he called the ‘gag-law’.
gag-man n. originally U.S. a deviser or writer of gags; also, a comedian; so gag-writer; gag-writing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [noun] > jest or pleasantry > one who jests or jokes > deviser of jokes
jokesmith1808
gag-man1928
gagster1935
society > leisure > the arts > literature > writer or author > [noun] > humorous writer
comic1549
comedian1580
sarcast1654
scribble-wit1672
farce-writer1681
humorist1871
gag-writer1959
1928 Sunday Express 15 Jan. 4 ‘Gag men’ have long flourished in America. One of them thought of making the villain sit on a red-hot stove.
1928 H. Crane Let. 27 Mar. (1965) 321 Meanwhile there are mechanical jobs such as title-writing, gag-writing, ‘continuity’ writing, etc.
1928 Collier's 29 Dec. 28/3 ‘What you need is a smart gag man,’ I say.
1951 D. Thomas Let. 12 Apr. in Sel. Lett. (1966) 357 I am about to take on a new job; co-writing, with the best gagman in England..a new comic series for the radio.
1957 Observer 29 Sept. 12/3 A quiet, mike-clutching gagman, in a discreetly elegant grey suit.
1959 Listener 23 July 124/1 A team of gag-writers.
1959 Spectator 11 Sept. 342/2 A young undertaker's clerk given to gag-writing.
gag-piece n. Theatre a ‘piece’ or play in which ‘gag’ is freely used.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > other types of play
king play1469
king game1504
historya1509
chronicle history1600
monology1608
horseplaya1627
piscatory1631
stock play1708
petite pièce1712
mimic1724
ballad opera1730
ballad farce1735
benefit-play1740
potboiler1783
monodrama1793
extravaganza1797
theo-drama1801
monodrame1803
proverb1803
stock piece1804
bespeak1807
ticket-night1812
dramaticle1813
monopolylogue1819
pièce d'occasion1830
interlude1831
mimea1834
costume piece1834
mummers' play1849
history play1850
gag-piece1860
music drama1874
well-made1881
playlet1884
two-decker1884
slum1885
kinderspiel1886
thrill1886
knockabout1887
two-hander1888
front-piece1889
thriller1889
shadow-play1890
mime play1894
problem play1894
one-acter1895
sex play1899
chronicle drama1902
thesis-play1902
star vehicle1904
folk-play1905
radio play1908
tab1915
spy play1919
one-act1920
pièce à thèse1923
dance-drama1924
a mess of plottage1926
turkey1927
weepie1928
musical1930
cliffhanger1931
mime drama1931
triangle drama1931
weeper1934
spine-chiller1940
starrer1941
scorcher1942
teleplay1947
straw-hatter1949
pièce noire1951
pièce rose1951
tab show1951
conversation piece1952
psychodrama1956
whydunit1968
mystery play1975
State of the Nation1980
1860 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang (ed. 2) (at cited word) In certain pieces this [gagging] is allowed by custom, and these are called gag-pieces. The Critic, or a Tragedy Rehearsed, is one of these.
gag-rein n. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 934/2 Gag-rein (Saddlery), a rein which passes over runners attached to the throat-latch, so as to draw the bit up into the corners of the horse's mouth when pulled upon.
gag-runner n. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 935/1 Gag-runner (Harness), a loop depending from the throat-latch; through it the gag-rein passes to the bit.
gag-snaffle n. a powerful snaffle (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > bit
kevela1300
barnaclea1382
bitc1385
molanc1400
bridle bit1438
snafflea1533
titup1537
bastonet?1561
cannon?1561
scatch1565
cannon bit1574
snaffle-bit1576
port mouth1589
watering snaffle1593
bell-bit1607
campanel1607
olive1607
pear-bit1607
olive-bit1611
port bit1662
neck-snaffle1686
curb-bit1688
masticador1717
Pelham1742
bridoon1744
slabbering-bit1753
hard and sharp1787
Weymouth1792
bridoon-bit1795
mameluke bit1826
Chiffney-bit1834
training bit1840
ring snaffle1850
gag-snaffle1856
segundo1860
half-moon bit1875
stiff-bit1875
twisted mouth1875
thorn-bit1886
Scamperdale1934
bit-mouth-
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports ii. iii. i. §3. 395 The Gag Snaffle is also a useful adjunct with pullers that get their heads down... If the horse does not pull, it is not more severe than a common snaffle; but if he does, it acts with double power, owing to the pulley-like attachment of the rein, and to its drawing against the angle of the mouth.
Draft additions July 2002
gag order n. colloquial (chiefly U.S.) a directive forbidding public disclosure of information on a particular matter, esp. one enforceable by law; (Law) a judicial order preventing any or all of the parties involved in legal proceedings from making details of the case public; cf. gagging order n. at gagging adj. Compounds.
ΚΠ
1906 N.Y. Times 9 Jan. 1/3 One article about the press censorship matter... A correspondent of a Western paper sent a dispatch dealing with the President's ‘gag order’ to the Cabinet.
1927 S. B. Spero Labor Movement in Govt. Industry 40 The original ‘gag’ order denying the right of petition to Congress was issued by President Roosevelt.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 31 July 3/4 Striking down a Nebraska judge's gag order, the Court held that judges generally cannot impose orders on the press to prevent disclosure of information about criminal cases.
1985 Time (Electronic ed.) 7 Jan. Whatever negotiating stance does finally emerge, U.S. officials are bound by a White House gag order not to leak the internal deliberations.
2002 Denver Post (Electronic ed.) 3 Feb. c21 He drew a technical foul in the second half for complaining about the officiating. Afterward, Patton clamped an indefinite gag order on the freshman.
Draft additions September 2018
gag reel n. North American a compilation of out-takes featuring amusing mistakes and mishaps that occurred during the making of a film or television show; = blooper reel n. at blooper n. Additions.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > editing > [noun] > rejected part > compilation of
gag reel1963
blooper reel1971
1963 Radio Television Daily 26 Mar. 9/3 (headline) Gag reel shows scenes from cutting room floor.
1991 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 30 July d2 The special will include footage from never before seen gag-reels.
2004 F. Levy Short Films 101 x. 136 In addition to the slick packaging we are accustomed to seeing on most feature-length DVDs, Sands also included..a gag reel.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
gagn.2
/ɡaɡ/, U.S. /ɡæɡ/ slang.
a. A ‘made-up’ story; a piece of deception, an imposture, a lie. broad gag (see quot. 1823).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > [noun] > a falsehood, lie
liec900
leasingc1000
falsehoodc1290
falsedom1297
gabbinga1300
fablec1300
follyc1300
fittenc1440
untruthc1449
crackc1450
fallacy1481
falsity1557
falsedict1579
untroth1581
crackera1625
flam1632
mendacity1646
fairy story1692
false1786
whid1794
gag1805
wrinkle1819
reacher1828
cram1842
untruism1845
crammer1861
inveracity1864
bung1882
fairy tale1896
mistruth1897
post-and-rails1945
pork pie1973
porky1985
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > fabrication of statement or story > [noun] > an invention, fiction, story
fablec1300
fantasy1362
feigning1388
invention?a1513
story?1531
finctionc1540
figment1577
fingure1593
fiction1599
knavigation1613
flam1632
gun1720
novel1764
fabrication1790
fudge1797
gag1805
myth1840
make-up1844
concoction1885
fictionalization1954
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > [noun] > instance of
braida1000
fraudc1374
mock1523
brogue1537
flim-flamc1538
imposture1548
lie1560
cozening1576
smoke-hole1580
gullery1598
gull1600
cog1602
coggery1602
fraudulency1630
imposition1632
cheat1649
fourbery1650
prestige1656
sham1677
crimp1684
bite1711
humbug1750
swindle1778
hookum-snivey1781
shim-sham1797
gag1805
intake1808
racket1819
wooden nutmeg1822
sell1838
caper1851
skin game1879
Kaffir bargain1899
swizzle1913
swizz1915
put-on1919
ready-up1924
rort1926
jack-up1945
1805 Townsman (Manchester) in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1806) IX. 364 I hate to hear such gag about a Goliath of thirteen.
1819 J. G. Lockhart Peter's Lett. to Kinsfolk III. 241 Whether the Gag come in the shape of a compliment to the Gaggee, or some wonderful story, gravely delivered with every circumstance of apparent seriousness.
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang Gag, a grand imposition upon the public; as a mountebank's professions, his cures, and his lottery-bags, are so many broad gags.
1871 All Year Round 18 Feb. 288 You won't bear malice now, will you? All gag of mine, you know, about old Miss Ponsonby.
1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 171 Gag, a lie; ‘a gag he told to the beak’.
1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down Gag, a joke; a deception.
1885 Daily News 16 May 5/2 We need not gratify the Mahdi by believing any bazaar ‘gag’ he may circulate.
b. U.S. A laughing-stock.
ΚΠ
1840 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 3rd Ser. iii. ii. 27 ‘Sam,’ says he, ‘they tell me you broke down the other day in the house of representatives, and made a proper gag of yourself.’
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
gagn.3
/ɡaɡ/, U.S. /ɡæɡ/ U.S.
A large serranoid fish, Mycteroperca microlepis, found off the coasts of the southern United States.
ΚΠ
1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 413 There appear to be..at Key West, as well as in Bermuda, various local forms closely related to this [sc. the rock-fish], one of which is known by the name ‘Gag’.
1896 D. S. Jordan & B. W. Evermann Fishes N. & Middle Amer. (Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 47) i. 1177 Mycteroperca Microlepis (Gag).
1950 R. A. Dahne Salt-water Fishing viii. 155 The gags seems to be increasing in popularity with many salt-water anglers.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
gagv.1
/ɡaɡ/, U.S. /ɡæɡ/ 1. † a. transitive. To strangle, suffocate. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > killing > killing by specific method > kill [verb (transitive)] > by strangling
aworryc885
achokeOE
astrangle1297
strangle13..
worry14..
choke1303
weary1340
gnarec1380
athroatc1400
enstranglec1400
gagc1440
throttlec1450
estrangle1483
stifle1548
snarl1563
thrapple1570
quackle1622
bowstring1803
scrag1823
strangulate1846
mug1866
to screw a person's neck1872
garrotte1878
guzzle1885
to screw an animal's neck1888
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 184/2 Gaggyn, or streyne be the þrote, suffoco.
b. intransitive. To choke, literal and figurative. Also, to retch. Also transitive (causatively).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > have digestive disorder [verb (intransitive)] > retch
bolk1495
retch1538
reach1575
heave1601
keck1601
to cast the gorge1614
keckle1619
yesk1664
strain1678
gag?1706
?1706 E. Hickeringill Priest-craft: 2nd Pt. v. 49 I do not, in the least, wonder, that he (that swallows Transubstantiation) should Gagg at believing, that [etc.].
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Gag, to nauseate; to reject with loathing, as if the throat were closed against the admission of what is offered; to make an unsuccessful effort to vomit.
1883 W. H. Cope Gloss. Hampshire Words Gag, to choke; like a dog or cat in eating greedily.
1908 Practitioner Sept. 367 The operation causes a little gagging and retching at first, but the patient soon becomes accustomed to the feeling of the cords in the throat.
1939 H. Hodge Cab, Sir? 49 The stench of stale beer and cheap scent makes me gag.
1945 J. Steinbeck Cannery Row xvii. 70 The idea gagged him, but he couldn't let it alone.
1963 M. Duggan in C. K. Stead N.Z. Stories 2nd Ser. (1966) 97 Suppose you gag a little at the sugar coating, its the same old fundamental toffee, underneath.
2.
a. transitive. To stop up the mouth of (a person) with a gag in order to prevent speech or outcry; to put a gag into (the mouth) in order to keep the jaws distended.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > loss or lack of voice > deprive of voice [verb (transitive)] > put to silence > by force
gag1509
muffle1570
confute1614
throttle1641
scobe1652
still1778
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xxxii. 159 We saw men in great tormenting, With many ladies, that their mouthes gagged.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 559/2 I gagge one, I putte a gagge in his mouthe that he shulde nat speke nor krye, je embaillonne.
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster v. iii. sig. L2 Gag him, we may haue his silence. View more context for this quotation
1712 J. Arbuthnot Lewis Baboon iv. i. 2 He could have John gagg'd and bound whenever he pleased.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho IV. xiv. 320 They..fastened my arms, and gagged my mouth.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xi, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. II. 317 ‘Let him be gagged instantly,’ said Albany.
1884 M. Beck Erichsen's Sci. & Art Surg. (ed. 8) II. lviii. 640 If the patient be efficiently gagged.
1886 W. J. Tucker Life E. Europe 195 He bound me, and then gagged my mouth.
b. To stop the mouth of (an animal) with or as with a gag.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [verb (transitive)] > insert or remove bit
snaffle1555
unbit1566
bit1583
gag1591
barnacle1861
1591 J. Harington tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso xi. xlviii. 85 That one alone the monster should assaile, And gag him with an anker in such sort, To make his strength and life and all to faile.
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 67 A Christian Boy in Constantinople, had liked to haue been stoned, for gagging, in a waggishnesse, a longe Billed Fowle.
c. transferred and figurative, esp. to deprive of power or freedom of speech; to stop the mouth of.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > refrain from uttering [verb (transitive)] > silence or prevent from speaking
to stop a person's mouthc1175
stilla1225
to keep ina1420
stifle1496
to knit up1530
to muzzle (up) the mouth1531
choke1533
muzzle?1542
to tie a person's tongue1544
tongue-tiea1555
silence1592
untongue1598
to reduce (a person or thing) to silence1605
to bite in1608
gaga1616
to swear downa1616
to laugh down1616
stifle1621
to cry down1623
unworda1627
clamour1646
splint1648
to take down1656
snap1677
stick1708
shut1809
to shut up1814
to cough down1823
to scrape down1855
to howl down1872
extinguish1878
hold1901
shout1924
to pipe down1926
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) i. v. 83 Vnles you laugh and minister occasion to him, he is gag'd . View more context for this quotation
1640 Ld. Falkland Speech in J. Rushworth Hist. Coll.: Third Pt. (1692) I. 139 He had as it were gagg'd the Commonwealth, taking away (to his power) all Power of Speech from that body.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. ix. 32) Satan still gags many to this day, that they cannot pray to God.
1792 R. Burns Let. 6 Dec. (2003) II. 166 I am a Placeman, you know; a very humble one indeed, Heaven knows, but still so much as to gag me.
1827 T. B. Macaulay Machiavelli in Ess. (1887) 48 The time was not yet come when eloquence was to be gagged, and reason to be hoodwinked.
1859 A. Helps Friends in Council New Ser. II. x. 267 Without gagging our press.
1871 L. Stephen Playground of Europe (1894) xii. 294 The continuous snow-fields..have gagged the torrent.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vi. §6. 331 The Church was gagged and its pulpits turned into mere echoes of Henry's will.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > open [verb (transitive)] > a door, gate, etc. > prop open (a window)
gag1604
1604 Meeting of Gallants sig. Cv He gagged open the Windowes.
4.
a. To confine unduly the mouth of, or apply a gag-bit to (a horse).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [verb (transitive)] > insert or remove bit > apply gag-bit
gag1833
1833 Regulations Instr. Cavalry i. ii. 75 The reins..are to be shortened by degrees, and with great care not to gag, or confine the horse too much.
1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. Gag, To apply a very powerful bit, such as is used in breaking young horses or governing restive ones.
b. To obstruct the working of (a valve), to stop up the valves of (an engine).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > control(s) > control by another device [verb (transitive)] > furnish with valve(s) > obstruct valves
gag1839
1839 R. S. Robinson Naut. Steam Engine 145 The safety valve..may become gagged or rusted, and incapable of motion.
1888 Engineer June LXV. 468 The men who gagged the valve knew quite well what they were about.
c. gen.
ΚΠ
1857 T. Wright Dict. Obsolete & Provinc. Eng. Gag, to hinder motion by tightness. Northampt.
5. Theatre.
a. intransitive. To introduce ‘gag’ into a piece. See gag n.1 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > act [verb (intransitive)] > amplify part
gag1853
to feed a part1892
pong1893
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xxxix. 393 The same vocalist ‘gags’ in the regular business like a man inspired.
1876 Tinsley's Mag. 18 180 They ‘gag’ to such an extent that the author oftentimes does not recognise his own dialogue.
b. transitive. To fill up (a piece) with ‘gag’.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > act [verb (transitive)] > amplify part
gag1861
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 141/2 We only do the outline of the story, and gag it up.
1889 L. Wallack Mem. 162 I have read the part very carefully, and if you will let me gag it and do what I please with it, I will undertake it.
c. intransitive. To tell a joke or jokes. Also transitive, with the joke as object.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > cause laughter [verb (intransitive)] > jest or joke
gameOE
jest1553
mow1559
cog1588
to break a jest1589
droll1654
joke1670
fool1673
crack a jest1721
crack a joke1753
pleasant1848
humorize1851
rot1896
kibitz1923
gag1942
1942 in L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §281/11.
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren iii. 53 ‘Do you know where Smudger takes his girl?’ gags the would-be comic.
Derivatives
ˈgagging n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > [noun] > other types of acting
puppetry1613
gagging1817
ponging1854
fogging1889
voice acting1928
feeding1929
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. (1870) 85 Whatever the motives of ministers might have been for the sedition, or as it was then the fashion to call them, the gagging bills.
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 126/2 And after a little business between them, all gagging, he says, ‘Slave! get back to the castle!’
1884 M. Beck Erichsen's Sci. & Art Surg. (ed. 8) II. lviii. 640 Efficient gagging is one of the most essential parts of all operations on the tongue.
1892 Athenæum 6 Feb. 173/2 But for his [Canning's] gagging of the European press..some dismal or unseemly things would not have happened.
1893 Times 14 July 9/5 The gagging resolution excluded all debate on the remaining clauses.
Draft additions September 2004
intransitive. to be gagging for: to be desperate for, to require urgently.Originally with reference to air; subsequently also (slang, chiefly British) more widely, esp. in sexual contexts. to be gagging for it: to be desperate for sexual intercourse.
ΚΠ
1942 C. Mytinger Headhunting in Solomon Islands ix. 65 Both spinners have choked the engine liberally, with the result that if there is any gasoline at all the engine is gagging for air.
1962 A. Sexton All my Pretty Ones 25 Didn't I die, blood running down the post, Lungs gagging for air.
1990 Viz Dec. 45/5 Join the army cos all the birds are gagging for squaddies.
1996 H. Fielding Bridget Jones's Diary (1997) 71 I was going to point out that three potential eligible partners gagging for it plus half the house and the pension schemes wasn't exactly nothing, but I bit my tongue.
1998 Cycling & Mountain Biking Today Apr. 40/3 The best of the Brits are all gagging for a chance to show off their jumping skills.
Draft additions June 2015
gag reflex n. retching, or spasmodic contraction of pharyngeal muscles, esp. triggered by touching structures in the back of the mouth; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1898 Laryngoscope 5 282 It is inserted behind the molar teeth..and then pushed backward until the pharynx is touched and the gagging reflex aroused.]
1912 Boston Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 5 Sept. 333/1 Clinical signs... vasomotor anginal attacks, hypotension, bronchial asthma, irregular types of breathing, laryngeal crises, inactive gag reflex... [etc.]
1986 G. Chesbro Veil (1987) iv. 18 He knew that he had to control his gag reflex.
1996 Films in Rev. Mar. 40/2 This is a passable adventure, but some of the lines are so politically correct and ‘withit’ it may activate your gag reflex.
2005 Asiana Spring 253/2 This is almost always followed by self-induced vomiting, with the sufferer sticking their fingers down their throat in order to induce the gag reflex and thus throw up.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† gagv.2
Obsolete.
1. transitive. To jerk; to strike with a sharp blow. Also, to toss up (the head); cf. Sc. geck v.It is uncertain whether quot. 1587 belongs to this word.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > sudden movement > cause to move suddenly [verb (transitive)] > jerk
braida1000
hitch1440
spang1513
jog1548
jert1566
jerk1582
gag1587
to toss up1588
tossa1618
thrip1674
shrug1678
flip1712
hotch1823
switch1842
slirt1870
hoick1898
quirk1978
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 1019/2 Minding to haue striken the man to whom he leuelled the shot: but gaging his hand, and missing his marke, he stroke his owne and best freend John Peter.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice v. 54 Whence hee first learnes to gagge vp his heade to loose his reyne.
1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xiv. xv. 518 A man somtimes..will be angry at sencelesse things, as to gag his pen [L. ut stilum collidat] in anger when it writes badly.
2.
a. transitive ? To wound or prick.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > injure [verb (transitive)] > wound > pierce
asnesec880
prickOE
stickOE
through-stitchc1230
threstc1275
rivec1330
dartc1374
gridea1400
tanga1400
prochea1425
launch1460
accloy1543
gag1570
pole1728
spigota1798
assegai1834
1570 J. Foxe tr. Prudentius Death Cassianus in Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 129/2 Some other gage hys flesh and ioyntes, as with a poynted nall.
b. intransitive. To make thrusts or pricks (at).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking in specific manner > strike in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > strike with pushing action > poke or prod
pingeOE
prokec1330
prod1579
poke1599
gag1622
jook1877
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 180 I was ever so mightily pricked on to revenge, as if (like a beast) the spurres thereof lay still gagging at my sides.
3. intransitive. To project, stick out. [Compare gag-tooth n.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > project or be prominent [verb (intransitive)]
tootc897
shootc1000
to come outOE
abuta1250
to stand outc1330
steek?c1335
risea1398
jutty14..
proferc1400
strutc1405
to stick upa1500
issuec1515
butt1523
to stick outc1540
jut1565
to run out1565
jet1593
gag1599
poke1599
proke1600
boke1601
prosiliate1601
relish1611
shoulder1611
to stand offa1616
protrude1704
push1710
projecta1712
protend1726
outstand1755
shove1850
outjut1851
extrude1852
bracket1855
to corbel out1861
to set out1892
pier1951
1599 J. Minsheu Percyvall's Dict. Spanish & Eng. Púa, any naile or such like sticking or gagging out.
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester Gagging out, sticking out, projecting.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
gagv.3
/ɡaɡ/, U.S. /ɡæɡ/ slang.
a. transitive. To deceive, take in or impose upon (a person), to ply with talk, to ‘stuff’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > treat fraudulently, cheat [verb (transitive)]
deceivec1330
defraud1362
falsec1374
abuse?a1439
fraud1563
visure1570
cozen1583
coney-catch1592
to fetch in1592
cheat1597
sell1607
mountebanka1616
dabc1616
nigglea1625
to put it on1625
shuffle1627
cuckold1644
to put a cheat on1649
tonya1652
fourbe1654
imposturea1659
impose1662
slur1664
knap1665
to pass upon (also on)1673
snub1694
ferret1699
nab1706
shool1745
humbug1750
gag1777
gudgeon1787
kid1811
bronze1817
honeyfuggle1829
Yankee1837
middle1863
fuck1866
fake1867
skunk1867
dead-beat1888
gold-brick1893
slicker1897
screw1900
to play it1901
to do in1906
game1907
gaff1934
scalp1939
sucker1939
sheg1943
swizz1961
butt-fuck1979
1777 F. Burney Let. 7 Apr. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1990) II. 243 In the most Capital scene..I endeavoured what I could to soften off the affectation of her sudden change of Disposition & I gagged the Gentleman with as much ease as my very little ease would allow me to assume.
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang (at cited word) He, in excuse, swears he said ‘they were’ and not ‘are alive’. He thus gags the public.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Gag, to play on one's credulity, a cant term used in Glasow.
1864 J. C. Hotten Slang Dict. (new ed.) 172 Gag, to hoax, ‘take a rise’ out of one; to cod.
b. intransitive. To practise imposture. to gag on: to ‘round’ on, inform against.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > act fraudulently, cheat [verb (intransitive)]
faitc1330
defraudc1384
to take (the) advantagea1393
false1393
halt1412
haft1519
juggle1528
wily beguile1550
foist1584
lurch1593
fog1621
imposture1624
rook1637
impone1640
cheat1647
chicane1671
humbug1753
fineer1765
gag1781
mountebank1814
jockeya1835
sniggle1837
barney1848
straw1851
honeyfuggle1856
skinch1891
finagle1926
society > communication > information > informing on or against > inform on or against [verb (transitive)]
wrayc725
meldeOE
bimeldena1300
forgabc1394
to blow up?a1400
outsay?a1400
detectc1449
denounce1485
ascry1523
inform1526
promote1550
peach1570
blow1575
impeach1617
wheedle1710
split1795
snitch1801
cheep1831
squeal1846
to put away1858
spot1864
report1869
squawk1872
nose1875
finger1877
ruck1884
to turn over1890
to gag on1891
shop1895
pool1907
run1909
peep1911
pot1911
copper1923
finger1929
rat1932
to blow the whistle on1934
grass1936
rat1969
to put in1975
turn1977
1781 G. Parker View Society & Manners II. 154 Having discovered the weak side of him he means to gag.
1781 G. Parker View Society & Manners II. 155 An old Soldier had gagg'd about London many years. His mode for provoking compassion was to [etc.].
1819 J. G. Lockhart Peter's Lett. to Kinsfolk III. 241 Gagging..signifies, as its name may lead you to suspect, nothing more than the thrusting of absurdities, wholesale and retail, down the throat of some too credulous gaper.
1828 G. Smeeton Doings in London 28 Gagging has been practised of late to a considerable extent on simple countrymen.
1891 Tramps in Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 390 She..besought them with (crocodile) tears not to ‘gag’ on them, in other words not to give information to the police.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.11553
n.21805n.31884
v.1c1440
v.21570v.31777- shovelsful
- shovelshaped
- shovelstirrup
- shovelsturgeon
- shoveltree
- shovelwood
- shovenet
- shovepike
- shover
- shovers
- shoves
- shoveshim
- shoveup
- shoveup socket
- shoving
- show
- show a clean pair of heels
- show a clean pair of one's heels
- show a face
- show a fair pair of heels
- show a fair pair of one's heels
- show a good time
- show a leg
- show a lesson
- show a miracle