Synonyms
Examples of retch in a Sentence
the smell of rotten cabbage makes me retch
Recent Examples on the Web
There are two kinds of moms: the mom who retches at the thought of matching her children, and the mom who stocks her daughter's closet full of tiny nap dresses.
—
Woman's Day, 21 July 2023
Overtaken by rekindled emotions — and liquid courage — Turizo ends up retching into the nightclub’s toilet while an unmasked Marshmello listens from the next stall over.
—Thania Garcia, Variety, 2 Mar. 2023
And when that vomiting is particularly severe, or when patients retch really hard, the pressure inside the esophagus becomes unbearable.
—Douglas G. Adler, Discover Magazine, 14 Dec. 2021
Woody Harrelson pops in as the yacht’s Marxist captain, who drunkenly swaps bon mots about socialism with a Ronald Reagan-quoting Russian manure magnate as passengers reel and retch around them.
—Sara Stewart, CNN, 1 Dec. 2022
The silverback smelled the smoke from our fire and began roaring and retching to intimidate us.
—Jerome Lewis, Scientific American, 26 Apr. 2020
There was one who’d set fire to her own locker, another who quietly cut her arms and legs, another who regularly ran herself to exhaustion around the track and then made retching sounds in the bathroom.
—Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2019
On a stretcher outside his office, a skeletally thin old man retched loudly; the man’s daughter tried to push more fluids into him.
—Peter Schwartzstein, National Geographic, 17 June 2019
When Boca pulled into the Monumental Stadium, River’s home, the players were still coughing and retching on their way to the locker room.
—Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 24 Nov. 2018
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Woman's Day, 21 July 2023
Overtaken by rekindled emotions — and liquid courage — Turizo ends up retching into the nightclub’s toilet while an unmasked Marshmello listens from the next stall over.
—Thania Garcia, Variety, 2 Mar. 2023
And when that vomiting is particularly severe, or when patients retch really hard, the pressure inside the esophagus becomes unbearable.
—Douglas G. Adler, Discover Magazine, 14 Dec. 2021
Woody Harrelson pops in as the yacht’s Marxist captain, who drunkenly swaps bon mots about socialism with a Ronald Reagan-quoting Russian manure magnate as passengers reel and retch around them.
—Sara Stewart, CNN, 1 Dec. 2022
The silverback smelled the smoke from our fire and began roaring and retching to intimidate us.
—Jerome Lewis, Scientific American, 26 Apr. 2020
There was one who’d set fire to her own locker, another who quietly cut her arms and legs, another who regularly ran herself to exhaustion around the track and then made retching sounds in the bathroom.
—Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2019
On a stretcher outside his office, a skeletally thin old man retched loudly; the man’s daughter tried to push more fluids into him.
—Peter Schwartzstein, National Geographic, 17 June 2019
When Boca pulled into the Monumental Stadium, River’s home, the players were still coughing and retching on their way to the locker room.
—Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 24 Nov. 2018
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'retch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English *rechen to spit, retch, from Old English hrǣcan to spit, hawk; akin to Old Norse hrækja to spit
First Known Use
1538, in the meaning defined at transitive sense
Dictionary Entries Near retch
Cite this Entry
“Retch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retch. Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.
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Kids Definition
2
: to try to vomit
Medical Definition
retch
intransitive verbˈrech, especially British ˈrēch
: to make an effort to vomit
retch
noun
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