gag Definition
gag (gag)
transitive verb gagged, gag′·ging
- to cause to retch or choke
- to put something over or into the mouth of, so as to keep from talking, crying out, etc.
- to keep from speaking or expressing oneself freely, as by intimidation
- to prevent or limit speech in (a legislative body)
- Mech. to choke or stop up (a valve, etc.)
Etymology: ME gaggen, of echoic orig.
intransitive verb
- to retch or choke
- Informal to make a gag or gags; joke
noun
- something put into or over the mouth to prevent talking, crying out, etc.
- ☆ any restraint of free speech
- a device for holding the jaws open for dental work or for any surgery inside the mouth
- a comical remark or act; joke, as one interpolated by an actor on the stage
- a practical joke or hoax
gag Synonyms
gag
v.
gag Usage Examples
Object
- clause: Some new Trust hospitals are imposing ' gagging clauses ' on their staff.
- order: Due to the gagging order placed on these pages, some of the excuses can't be printed.
Converse of object
- crack: Matt thinks it makes Brian pretty dull - he even turned down a cracking gag for his wedding speech.
- run: There is a kind of running gag in the teacher's unending struggle to motivate his pupils.
- wear: The protestors wore gags in a silent protest over being silenced.
- write: Lucy Porter has written gags for some of our best known comedians.
Adjective modifier
- throwaway: Nowadays, of course, the Comic Relief joke is to use the inclusion of a high profile celebrity as a throwaway gag.
- topical: To paraphrase a topical gag, City gave a David Blaine 2nd half display, they could not get away from their box.
- hilarious: This hilarious gag brings me neatly on to my subject for September - leeks.
- visual: A hilarious action comedy from 1926 with incredible visual gags.
- funny: In fact most of the funniest gags are in the trailers!
- verbal: Even the latest episodes contain priceless visual and verbal gags to rival the best that has gone before.
Modifies a noun
- reel: The next bonus material item, the 7 minute Evans gag reel, is a true gem.
- gift: He'd bought the antique harness from a junk shop as a gag gift for a friend's wedding.
- writer: Woody began his career in the mid-Fifties as a gag writer, before commencing his own stand up act in the early 60s.
Noun used with modifier
- fart: But then he'll veer off at a tangent, or throw in a fart gag and the feeling is lost.
- knob: SM: Tell them a knob gag or something.
- sight: Then he tried the sight gag - going for a clinch with Gaby in a prop hospital bed.
- mouth: They may " mouth gag " or " neck stretch " in an attempt to regurgitate.
Possessives
dart: Until next time, Ben ' The Yellow Dart ' Lancaster don't get the ' yellow dart ' gag?

