puke

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: pyo͞ok, IPA^(key): /pjuːk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːk

Etymology 1

Probably imitative; or, alternatively from Proto-Germanic *pukaną (“to spit, puff”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). If so, then cognate with German pfauchen, fauchen (“to hiss, spit”). Compare also Dutch spugen (“to spit, spit up”), German spucken (“to spit, puke, throw up”), Old English spīwan (“to vomit, spit”). More at spew.

Attested as early as 1581, first mention is the derivative pukishness (“the tendency to be sick frequently”). In 1600, "to spit up, regurgitate", recorded in the Seven Ages of Man speech in Shakespeare's As You Like It.

Noun

puke (countable and uncountable, plural pukes)

1. (colloquial, uncountable) vomit.
   • 2007, The Guardian, The Guardian Science blog, "The latest in the war on terror: the puke saber"

     the puke saber pulses light over rapidly changing wavelengths, apparently inducing "disorientation, nausea and even vomiting"

2. (colloquial, countable) A drug that induces vomiting.
   • 1776, Physician Lewis Beebe, Diary of a Revolutionary Army Physician‎:

     "at 8 a.m. took a puke of vinum antimoniale; which operated very kindly; was very weak the remainder of the day."

3. (colloquial, countable) A worthless, despicable person.
4. (US, slang, derogatory, countable) A person from Missouri.
   • 2009, Clive Scott Chisholm, Following the Wrong God Home: Footloose in an American Dream:

     "Pukes" and "suckers" had badly mauled the Saints, the first pummeling them from Missouri and the second from Illinois.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:vomit
• (person) rotter

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

puke (third-person singular simple present pukes, present participle puking, simple past and past participle puked)

1. (colloquial, transitive, intransitive) To vomit; to throw up; to eject from the stomach.
   • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms

   • 1612–1613 (date written), John Webster, The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy. , London: Nicholas Okes, for Iohn Waterson, , published 1623, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, signature D2, recto:

     I obſerue our Ducheſſe / Is ſicke a dayes, ſhe puykes, her ſtomacke ſeethes, […]

2. (intransitive, finance, slang) To sell securities or investments at a loss, often under duress or pressure, in order to satisfy liquidity or margin requirements, or out of a desire to exit a deteriorating market.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:regurgitate
• vomit
• barf
• spew
• throw up
• spew up

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

puke (uncountable)

1. A fine grade of woolen cloth.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Puke-stocking caddis garter

2. A very dark, dull, brownish-red color.

References

• wollencloth: Word Detective
• The Universal Dictionary of English, 1896, 4 vols: "Of a dark colour, said to be between black and russet."
• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

Hawaiian

Etymology

Borrowed from English book.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpu.ke/

Noun

puke

1. book

References

• Hawaiian Dictionary, by Pukui and Elbert

Maori

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, from Proto-Austronesian (compare Fijian buke, Malay bukit).

Noun

puke

1. (geography) hill

Middle English

Noun

puke

1. Alternative form of pouke

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse púki, from Proto-Germanic *pūkô.

Noun

pūke m

1. devil, demon

Declension

Descendants

• Swedish: puke; ⇒ skråpuke, ⇒ skråpuk

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• poqui, puqui — obsolete, Spanish-based orthography
• puki

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *puki, from Proto-Austronesian *puki.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈpuke/,
  • IPA^(key): /ˈpukeʔ/,
• Rhymes: -uke, -ukeʔ
• Syllabification: pu‧ke

Noun

puke or pukè (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜓᜃᜒ)

1. (vulgar, anatomy) vulva

   Synonyms: pipi, kiki, bilat, kikyam, kepyas, pamamahay, pekpek, pukingking, pepe, pukiki, puwerta, kinababainan, kepay, monay, tahong, (obsolete) urit

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

• “puke”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Tongan

Adjective

puke

1. sick, ill