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😂 A joke 🤐 A mouth stopper 🤐 To silence 🤢 To choke 🚫 To silence opinions 😂 To joke
to gag

to gag

4 7.1
To stop someone from speaking, often by using rules or force
  • verb
  • /ɡæɡ/
translation icon : silenciar
  • When Hitler ascended the dais of power, all newspapers were gagged and it was made a crime to criticize the state.

What to do if you just keep talking and protect your First Amendment rights and then you're gagged and put in jail, And what's the shelf life on that?

Examples

  • Individuals were virtually gagged from revealing any details of their deliberations to the press.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The government has resolved to gag Parliament in these most critical days for our country.

  • They want to keep the truth gagged?

    Battle in Seattle (2007)

  • I'm not gagged, and I want to speak out on behalf of the women who can't.

    She Said (2022)

  • You may find out about political barriers, suppressed documents, gagged scientists, unanswered questions, threatened firings or relocations, and defiance of environmental laws by government bureaucrats and corporations.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The new law is designed to gag opposition voices and limit freedom of speech.

  • The authorities attempted to gag the reporters to prevent them from covering the protest.

  • In an effort to gag dissent, the regime imposed restrictions on public gatherings.

Synonyms

to muzzle
vsto gag
  • Literature
9 7.5

To stop a person or group from speaking freely

uses force or official power to stop someone speaking

Antonyms

to allow
∞ 1.0

To let something happen or let someone do something

to liberate
104 4.3

Set someone free from prison or unfair control

Phrasal Verbs

to gag for it
  • Slang
1 9.9

To want something very much

to gag with laughter
  • Informal
6.5

To laugh so hard you almost choke

to go along with the gag
  • Informal
8.2

To pretend to join a joke or prank to keep others laughing

Compounds

gag order
  • Literature
19 7.2

A court rule that stops people from talking about a case to the public

gag reflex
  • Specialized
7 4.1

An automatic throat reaction that makes you feel like vomiting

gag rule
  • Formal
5 8.6

A rule that stops people in a committee or parliament from talking about a topic

running gag
3 3.7

A joke that is repeated in a show or conversation to be funny

sight gag
2 6.4

A joke you see that makes people laugh without words

gag law
  • Literature
8.3

A law that limits what the press can report or say

gag law
  • Formal
8.1

A rule that stops discussion among lawmakers in a parliament

gag line
4.4

The last line of a joke that makes people laugh

How Silenced

to censor
514 5.2
to gag
4 7.1
to silence
169 3.5
to stifle
49 5.3
to discourage
257 3.5

Surface Forms

gag infinitive
gagged past
gagged past participle
gagging present participle
gags third person singular

Etymology

To gag in the sense of stopping someone from speaking grew from the physical idea of a gag and now means to prevent people from expressing their views, often by force or law. That's why we speak of a gag order when speech is officially stopped.