puke
Plural: pukes
Noun
- a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible
- "you cowardly little pukes!"
- the matter ejected in vomiting
- vomit.
- A drug that induces vomiting.
- A worthless, despicable person.
- A person from Missouri.
- A fine grade of woolen cloth.
- A very dark, dull, brownish-red color.
Verb
Verb Forms: puked, puking, pukes
- To vomit or eject matter from the stomach.
- eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth
- To vomit; to throw up; to eject from the stomach.
- To sell securities or investments at a loss, often under duress or pressure, in order to satisfy liquidity or margin requirements, or out of a desire to exit a deteriorating market.
Examples
- He felt like he might puke after his opponent pulled off an improbable 7-letter word.
- Unfortunately, he could not hold it long enough till the end of the ride, so he puked on the bus seat.
Origin / Etymology
Probably imitative; or, alternatively from Proto-Germanic *pukaną (“to spit, puff”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). If so, then cognate with German pfauchen, fauchen (“to hiss, spit”). Compare also Dutch spugen (“to spit, spit up”), German spucken (“to spit, puke, throw up”), Old English spīwan (“to vomit, spit”). More at spew.
Attested as early as 1581, first mention is the derivative pukishness (“the tendency to be sick frequently”). In 1600, "to spit up, regurgitate", recorded in the Seven Ages of Man speech in Shakespeare's As You Like It.
Synonyms
barf, be sick, bum, cast, cat, chuck, crumb, dirty dog, disgorge, git, honk, lowlife, purge, rat, regorge, regurgitate, retch, rotter, scum bag, sick, skunk, so-and-so, spew, spue, stinker, stinkpot, throw up, upchuck, vomit, vomit up, vomitus, spew up
Antonyms
keep down
Scrabble Score: 10
puke: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordpuke: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
puke: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary