puke

1 of 2

verb

ˈpyük 

puked; puking; pukes

transitive + intransitive

informal : vomit entry 1

… the hideous smell, which … had made me hold my stomach and my breath sometimes, in an effort not to puke …

—Oliver Sacks

'You Washington know-it-alls make me puke,' Quimper said, retiring from the conversation.

—James A. Michener

Sadly for Sam, sailing is not his strong suit, prompting him to puke his guts out all over the place.

—Josh Wigler

—often used with up

Just puked up the cup of coffee I tried to down as my only form of nourishment.

—Hugh Gallagher

"Damn woman, first you puke up and then you catch an attitude."

—Hariette Surovell

puke

2 of 2

noun

plural pukes

1

informal : vomit

I remember there was always dog puke on the sidewalks in El Paso.

—Jayne Anne Phillips

The launch back was full of hung over sailors, and marines in even worse shape. It smelled of puke and piss from the night before.

—David Poyer

2

slang : a disgusting, unlikeable, or contemptible person

"… handles winning well, but when he gets in trouble, he behaves like a little puke."

—Mark Woodforde

Synonyms

Verb

• barf
• gag
• heave
• hurl
• retch
• spew
• spit up
• throw up
• upchuck
• vomit

Examples of puke in a Sentence

Verb

the drunken reveler staggered out the door and promptly puked in the bushes

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Yet everything about this pallid stunt comedy, from the increasingly gross setpieces (at one point, Barrymore’s Nancy pukes directly into her husband’s mouth) to the wasting of normally great character actors in minor roles (Harvey Fierstein! —Sean Malin, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024

Here’s the play: • Shortly thereafter, however, Williams puked. —Colton Pouncy, The Athletic, 24 July 2024

Noun

More than an hour after Sunday’s game, fans were still squatting on random curbs and corners, trying to get home, picking their way through the puke in the tailgating lot, jostling with hundreds of others using ride-hailing services in a chaotic parking lot. —Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2023

Woodall reciprocates with his own sweet snaps of Campbell on his Instagram account, including an October 2019 Halloween pic of the couple holding a jack-o-lantern with pumpkin seeds as pretend puke. —Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 15 Aug. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Verb

origin unknown

First Known Use

Verb

1601, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1705, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing puke

• make someone (want to) puke

Kids Definition

puke

verb

ˈpyük 

puked; puking

informal

: vomit entry 2

puke noun