Definitions for the word "Gag" from multiple English dictionaries.
1. v. t.
To stop the mouth of, by thrusting sometimes in, so as to hinder speaking; hence, to silence by authority or by violence; not to allow freedom of speech to.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
2. v. t.
To pry or hold open by means of a gag.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
3. v. t.
To cause to heave with nausea.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
4. v. i.
To heave with nausea; to retch.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
5. v. i.
To introduce gags or interpolations. See Gag, n., 3.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
6. n.
Something thrust into the mouth or throat to hinder speaking.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
7. n.
A mouthful that makes one retch; a choking bit; as, a gag of mutton fat.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
8. n.
A speech or phrase interpolated offhand by an actor on the stage in his part as written, usually consisting of some seasonable or local allusion.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
9. n.
1 thing thrust into or tied across the mouth, esp. To prevent speaking or crying out. 2 joke or comic scene. 3 parliamentary closure. 4 thing restricting free speech. v. (-gg-) 1 apply a gag to. 2 silence; deprive of free speech. 3 choke, retch. 4 make gags as a comedian etc. [origin uncertain]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
10. slang
a lie; “a GAG he told to the beak.”—_Thieves’ Cant._
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864
11. slang
language introduced by an actor into his part. In certain pieces
this is allowed by custom, and these are called GAG-PIECES. _The Critic,
or a Tragedy Rehearsed_, is chief among these. Many actors, however,
take French leave in this respect with most pieces.—_Theatrical slang._
MR. ROBSON AT BELFAST.—We (_Northern Whig_) suspected a little bit
of what is professionally termed GAG in Mr. Robson’s _Daddy
Hardacre_ last night. He had occasion to say that one of the
characters in the piece “understands me well enough,” to which he
added—“I wish some other people did the same,” with an expressive
glance at the pit; which we interpreted as having special reference
to those appreciative persons in the audience whom we have already
mentioned, who think it absolutely needful to roar with laughter at
every sentence Mr. Robson utters, without the least regard to
whether it be humorous or pathetic—only because Mr. Robson has fame
as a comic actor.
When another Robson shall arise, no one will object to his GAGGING a
little. The public could afford that to such a man in these days of
“creations.”
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864
12. slang
to hoax, “take a rise” out of one; to “cod.”
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864
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