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gack

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gack¹

  • /ɡæk/

Sounds like gac · Rhymes with -æk

Where it comes from

Apparently onomatopoeic and believed to have first appeared in comic strips. Compare gag (“to choke; to retch”) and hack (“to cough noisily”).

The "cocaine" and "meth" senses apparently comes from the fact that snorting the drugs often activates a person's gag reflex.

interjection gak

  1. A sharp, sudden sound from someone's throat while they're coughing, vomiting, gagging, etc. Sports was immediately consigned to a recycle pile where it was handy in case she heard the unmistakable gack-gack-gack machine-gun regurgitation sound of Midnight Louie about to deposit a hairball on some particularly cherished piece of paper or furniture.
  2. An expression of disgust or disapproval. The family wanted me to try marmite, which is some sort of dark brown yeast extract that many Kiwis seem to enjoy. […] The family asked me to try it saying that it "tastes better than it smells." They were completely wrong. Gack! No more marmite for this boy.
  3. An expression of trepidation. “Gack,” said Judith. “I don’t remember that. I wish you hadn’t. […]”

verb gacks · gacking · gacked · gak

  1. intransitive To make a sharp, sudden sound in one's throat, such as before vomiting or while coughing, gagging, etc. I slipped the punch, dropped the paper, and closed my right hand around his throat. I backed him into his desk and pushed him onto his back. […] He rubbed his throat, gacked like a cat spitting up a hair ball.
  2. intransitive To vomit, throw up. I mean, if cheese could make me gack, you know that poop snake, coiled around that worthless pen, wasn't going to calm my jumpy stomach down.
  3. transitive To cough something up. It reminded me of the time Willy tried to get a whole hamburger in his mouth on a bet. […] he almost choked to death before we figured out how to do the Heimlich maneuver on him. […] finally Pete Honer said, "He's turning blue," and we all just grabbed something and squeezed and he gacked it up and
  4. intransitive To choke (be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe) […] Chutsky came around and kicked the other one in the throat, so hard I could hear it crack, and he went over backward making gacking noises and clutching at his windpipe.u
  5. intransitive To choke (experience tightness in one's throat as a result of strong emotion) My throat made some gacking noises, though. No, no crying! Stiff lip, stiff lip, stiff lip—you got an interview! I stood in the kitchen, shaking and swallowing everything down.

noun gak

  1. slang, uncountable Crystal meth.
  2. slang, uncountable Powder cocaine. —What, an he deals gack on the side? / —Aye, yeh. Dead easy for him to get a hold of, innit? / —How's that, well? / —Every fuckin ozzy's gorra supply of charlie, Dar. Skag n all. Best fuckin painkillers goin, lar.

gack²

  • /ɡæk/

Sounds like gac · Rhymes with -æk

Where it comes from

Apparently onomatopoeic. Compare German gack (“call of a hen”), German gackern (“(of a chicken) to loudly and repetitive cry”), and Dutch gakken (“(of a goose) to honk”).

Comparison to more terms

Pokorny compared German gackern to words including English gaggle, Latvian gâgát (“cry like a goose”), Russian gogotátь (gogotátʹ, “(of geese) cackle; laugh loudly”), Old Norse gaga (“mock, ridicule”), and Albanian gogësínj (“yawn, burp”), among others. Pokorny considered common origin or separate innovation both as possibilities to explain the similarities.

interjection

  1. The sound of a bird's call in response to disturbance. It was a big downy chick, about twenty-three days old. […] Steve shot ptargmigan for it, and every time it ate or saw Steve it would scream, Gack gack gack gack, […]

verb gacks · gacking · gacked

  1. of a bird To call in response to disturbance. During a disturbance the young run to the water and dive from fear, […] On other occasions the adults swim or walk about, incessantly gacking.

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Cite this
MLA

"gack." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gack. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

gack. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gack

Chicago

"gack." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gack.

BibTeX
@misc{gack_2026,
  title = {gack},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gack},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}