gleek
verb
to project a stream of saliva from one’s mouth
What does gleek mean?
To gleek is to project a stream of saliva from one’s mouth, whether purposefully or involuntarily.
Examples of gleek
Gleeking is the ability to spray saliva out of the mouth from the glands that sit underneath the tongue in a move that’s been compared to a cobra spitting venom. Medics estimate that about a third (35 per cent) of the population may ‘gleek’ accidentally. In fact, to their horror, many of those who can gleek do so while yawning, leading to an embarrassing spraying of people and objects near them. However, experts add anyone can learn how to do it, if for some reason they wanted to.
—Joe Ely, The Daily Mail (United Kingdom), 27 Jan. 2025
The greens, meanwhile, were well seasoned, delicious and moist. Really moist. As in, I had trouble keeping the juice inside my mouth when I chewed — that moist. I know that’s a gross image, but they tasted so good that I couldn’t make myself chew slowly and carefully. So I gleeked a bit. Luckily, Kirk was well out of harm’s way, across the table from me.
—A woman who accused her boyfriend of sleeping with another woman complained to Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputies that he responded by spitting one her. The man’s defense: he didn’t spit at her he “gleeked” on her, the Northwest Florida Daily News reports.
—In general, gleeking comes from “built up watery saliva” in your sublingual glands, Steven Morgano, DMD, chair of the Department of Restorative Dentistry at the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, told Health. Then, “pressure on the glands from the tongue [...] causes the saliva to squirt out,” added Dr. Morgano. While sublingual glands and the saliva excreted from them have a purpose while you eat, being able to gleek doesn’t have any benefits, explained Dr. Morgano. “It is a quirk,” added Dr. Morgano.
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Where does gleek come from?
This use of gleek dates back at least a couple of decades, and likely earlier. It is unclear whether this gleek bears any connection to the obsolete verb meaning “to gain an advantage over (as by trickery),” or the merely archaic verb meaning “to joke or gibe.” As attested in our Unabridged dictionary, gleek has also been used as a noun in the past to refer to a gibe, jest, or practical joke, as well as to a flirtatious glance—though we imagine such a gleek would be utterly undermined by ill-timed gleeking.
How is gleek used?
Generally, gleek is used as a intransitive verb, meaning it does not take an object. However, once in a while a transitive use does spray forth:
Suddenly mayhem broke out. Chairs crashed. Students shrieked and scattered from the back corner. One of the boys had “gleeked” his friend—spraying him with salivary mist from his throat. Within seconds it had escalated into a spitting match.
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