vomit
/ˈvɒmɪt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈvɑːmɪt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈvä-mət/ (ame, mw) · /ˈvɒm.ɪt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈvɑː.mɪt/ (ame, ipa)
vomit — verb
- vomitpresent simple I / you / we / they
- vomitshe / she / it
- vomitedpast simple
- vomiting-ing form
1. to push food or liquid up from the stomach and out of the mouth, usually because
to push food or liquid up from the stomach and out of the mouth, usually because you feel sick, are drunk, or are reacting to something disgusting
Hugo felt seasick during the ferry crossing and vomited over the rail twice.
intransitive: vomit + adverbial of place
The puppy vomited a small plastic toy that had been missing all week.
transitive: vomit + direct object (swallowed object)
After drinking five beers at the festival, Nikos vomited beside the wooden fence.
The smell of the dead mouse under the floorboards made Olivia want to vomit.
Sivan's baby vomited a mouthful of milk onto the changing mat before lunch.
- throw up
the standard everyday phrasal verb in American English; less clinical than 'vomit'
- be sick
the standard British informal phrase for the same action
- puke
very informal and crude; appears in slang and rough humour
- regurgitate
technical; usually about food coming back up without violent stomach action, as with babies or birds
- keep down
to manage to hold food or medicine in the stomach without bringing it back up
文法句型
vomit (something)
vomit + adverb of place
用法筆記
Frequently neutral or clinical in tone. In casual speech, Taiwanese learners should expect to hear 'throw up' (American) or 'be sick' (British) more often; reserve 'vomit' for medical, news, or written contexts.
常見錯誤
vomit — noun
1. the food or liquid that has come up from inside a person's or animal's stomach a
the food or liquid that has come up from inside a person's or animal's stomach and out through their mouth
Amira mopped a puddle of vomit off the kitchen tiles before the guests arrived.
quantity phrase: a puddle of vomit
There were splashes of vomit on the pavement outside the football stadium.
uncountable: splashes of vomit
Vikram scrubbed the dog's vomit out of the rug for almost an hour.
The sharp smell of vomit hit Jin as soon as the taxi door opened.
文法句型
[quantity] of vomit
[adjective] vomit
用法筆記
Treated as uncountable in everyday English: do not say 'a vomit' to mean the substance itself. Use quantity phrases such as 'some vomit', 'a pool of vomit', or 'a patch of vomit' when you need to indicate amount.
常見錯誤
2. one single instance of bringing food or liquid up from the stomach, treated as a
one single instance of bringing food or liquid up from the stomach, treated as a separate event rather than as the substance itself
Trang had one big vomit after the spicy curry and then felt completely fine.
countable: had a vomit (single event)
Each vomit was logged by the night-shift nurse on the patient's clipboard.
countable plural: each vomit
Heloísa managed one painful vomit on the side of the road before climbing back into the car.
Christopher's third vomit of the morning finally cleared his stomach for good.
- bout of vomiting
more formal; common in medical reports and nursing notes
- episode of vomiting
clinical phrasing preferred in hospital records
- retch
noun for a single dry heave; not necessarily producing anything
文法句型
have a vomit
a + adjective + vomit
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: here 'a vomit' refers to the event, not the substance. This countable use is informal and most common in spoken English or nursing notes; in formal medical writing, prefer 'an episode of vomiting' or 'a bout of vomiting'.