Retching

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A physical response involving the heaving of the abdomen that may mimic vomiting without expelling contents
2. The act of making repeated involuntary movements of the stomach and diaphragm suggesting nausea without actual expulsion
3. Performing forceful, involuntary muscular contractions that imitate vomiting while retaining stomach contents

Etymology: The verb "retch" comes from Old English "hrǣċan," meaning "to clear the throat, hawk, spit," and it is the spitting sense, not the vomiting sense, that the word started with. Its ancestor is a Proto-Germanic verb for clearing the throat, which is linked to the German "Rachen" (throat) and the Icelandic "hrækja" (to spit). Heaving and gagging only came to the fore later, as the word narrowed toward the sensation of nausea. Confusingly, English also had a separate verb "recchen," from Old English "rēċċan," meaning "to care" or "to heed." That verb is a relative of "reck," as in "reckless," which literally means "heedless." Over time the two verbs merged in spelling, so the modern "retch" carries traces of both a throat-clearing sound and an old word for paying attention.

Synonyms: vomiting, heaving, nauseating

Antonyms: savoring