the.com/retch
your body's false alarm before vomiting actually shows up.
means To make the involuntary gagging motion and sound of vomiting, whether or not anything actually comes up.
from Retch comes from Old English hræcan, meaning to clear the throat or spit — originally just about throat-clearing and coughing. Over time it narrowed into the specific, miserable sense of straining to vomit, and it's a distant cousin of 'reach' in some older dialect spellings, though the two words split off in meaning long ago.
- etymology
- old english hræcan, to clear the throat
- distinct from
- vomiting; retching is the rehearsal, not the show
- involuntary
- triggered by brainstem, not willpower
- also means
- to feel intense disgust, no stomach required