gack
/ɡæk/interjection, verb, noun
gack is spelled G-A-C-K: 4 letters. It appears about once in every 48 million words in written English, the 214,628th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an interjection, gack means “A sharp, sudden sound from someone's throat while they're coughing, vomiting, gagging, etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in gack?
| Letters | 4: G-A-C-K |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 48 million words; the 214,628th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is gack?
Gack appears about once in every 48 million words in written English, the 214,628th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gack?
- /ɡæk/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-gak.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with gack
Sounds like: gac (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of gack
- gak
- gacks present, singular, he/she/it
- gacking participle, present
- gacked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gack mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
A sharp, sudden sound from someone's throat while they're coughing, vomiting, gagging, etc.
- 2
An expression of disgust or disapproval.
- 3
An expression of trepidation.
- 4
The sound of a bird's call in response to disturbance.
verb
- 1
To make a sharp, sudden sound in one's throat, such as before vomiting or while coughing, gagging, etc.
- 2
To vomit, throw up.
- 3
To cough something up.
- 4
To choke (be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe)
- 5
To choke (experience tightness in one's throat as a result of strong emotion)
- 6
To call in response to disturbance.
noun
- 1
slangCrystal meth.
- 2
slangPowder cocaine.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does gack come from?
Apparently onomatopoeic and believed to have first appeared in comic strips. Compare gag (“to choke; to retch”) and hack (“to cough noisily”). The "cocaine" and "meth" senses apparently comes from the fact that snorting the drugs often activates a person's gag reflex.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).