retch
/ɹɛt͡ʃ/verb, noun
retch is spelled R-E-T-C-H: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 90,432nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “retch vs wretch” about 90 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, retch means “To make or experience an unsuccessful effort to vomit; to strain or spasm, as if to vomit; to gag or nearly vomit” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in retch?
| Letters | 5: R-E-T-C-H |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 90,432nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is retch?
Retch appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 90,432nd 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 retch?
- /ɹɛt͡ʃ/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-retch.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with retch
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: wretch (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: reach.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with retch?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as retch.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: chert.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of retch
- retches present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- retching participle, present
- retched participle, past
- reach
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does retch mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To make or experience an unsuccessful effort to vomit; to strain or spasm, as if to vomit; to gag or nearly vomit.
- 2
To vomit; to make or experience a successful effort to vomit.
- 3
obsoleteTo reck.
- 4
Alternative form of reach.
noun
- 1
An unsuccessful effort to vomit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Retch in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | würgen |
| Portuguese | engulhar , arranco |
| Spanish | tener arcadas, basquear , arcada, basca |
| French | haut-le-cœur |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does retch come from?
From Middle English *recchen, *rechen (attested in arechen), hræcen (“to cough up”), from Old English hrǣċan (“to clear the throat, hawk, spit”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrākijan, from Proto-Germanic *hrēkijaną (“to clear one's throat”), from Proto-Indo-European *kreg- (“to caw, crow”). Cognate with Icelandic hrækja (“to hawk, spit”), Limburgish räöke (“to induce vomiting”), Bavarian reckn (“to retch, gag”) and German recken (“to retch, gag”). Also related with German Rachen (“throat”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).