Gargles

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To produce a bubbling or gurgling sound by forcing liquid in the throat through various vocal cord adjustments
2. To cleanse the throat or mouth by expelling liquid while generating a characteristic bubbling noise
3. To wash the throat or mouth by holding and agitating liquid in the back of the mouth, creating audible bubbling noises

Etymology: "Gargles" is the third-person singular form of the verb "gargle," so its history is that of the verb itself. The verb comes from French "gargouiller," meaning "to gargle," which in turn grew from Old French "gargouille," a word for "gutter" or "throat." That same root gave English "gargoyle," the carved spout that channels rainwater away from a building, so the throat and the drainpipe share a single ancestor in the imagery of liquid rushing through a narrow passage. English already had a word for the action before French supplied this one. Old English speakers used "swillan," and that native verb survives today as "swill." A Latin-derived form, "gargarizen," also reached Middle English, but it was displaced by the French-based term, which is the one that stuck.

Synonyms: rinse, swish, wash, mouthwash, gurgle