gag

noun10

1. •
   A joke or mischievous prank.
2. •
   A device to restrain speech, such as a rag in the mouth secured with tape or a rubber ball threaded onto a cord or strap.

   • Blood may seep to the back of the throat and may clot, producing an “artificial gag” of clotted blood. — 2014
3. •
   An order or rule forbidding discussion of a case or subject.
4. •
   (figurative) Any suppression of freedom of speech.

   • Civil Court blocks PM's gag on free speech — 2021
5. •
   A convulsion of the upper digestive tract, caused by the gag reflex.
6. •
   a device or trick used to create a practical effect; a gimmick
7. •
   A shocking or surprising thing.
8. •
   Any member of the species Mycteroperca microlepis of groupers.
9. •
   (slang, no longer used) Unscripted lines introduced by an actor into his part.

   • "The Critic" has long been known in the theatre as a "gag-piece;" that is, a play which the performers consider themselves entitled to treat with the most merciless licence. — 1882
10. •
    (no longer used) A mouthful that makes one retch or choke.

    • L. has recorded the repugnance of the school to gags, or the fat of fresh beef boiled, and sets it down to some superstition. — 2008

verb8

1. •
   To experience the vomiting reflex.

   • He gagged when he saw the open wound.
2. •
   To cause to heave with nausea.
3. •
   To choke; to retch.
4. •
   To restrain someone's speech by blocking his or her mouth.
5. •
   (figurative) To restrain someone's speech without using physical means.

   • When the financial irregularities were discovered, the CEO gagged everyone in the accounting department.
6. •
   To astonish (someone); to leave speechless.
7. •
   To pry or hold open by means of a gag.

   • […] some have their mouths gagged to such a wideness, for a long time, whereat such quantities of water are poured in, that their bellies swell to a prodigious degree […] — 1917
8. •
   (slang, no longer used) To deceive (someone); to con.

   • I endeavoured what I could to soften off the affectation of her sudden change of Disposition; and I gagged the Gentleman with as much ease as my very little ease would allow me to assume. — 1777

noun2

1. •
   Initialism of glycosaminoglycan.
2. •
   Abbreviation of group-specific antigen.