gag

[GAG, v.] 1. Something thrust into the mouth to prevent a person from speaking. "Whose own foul smoke, And a sharp gag under their throats half-choke." Holiday: Juvenal , sat. i. 2. Anything that silences a person. "As to my place, that shall never be a gag to prevent me from speaking my mind."- Macaulay : Hist . Eng ., ch. xiv. 3. Anything which causes nausea or sickne . "L. has recorded the repugnance of the school to gags , or the fat of fresh beef boiled." Lamb : E ays of Elia; Christ's Hospital . 4. Interpolations introduced by an actor into his part. ( Stage slang .) "When I go out I always do my own gag , and I try to knock out something new."- Mayhew : London Labor , iii. 148. IMG:content-0270.png:[blocks in formation]