How to Use gag in a Sentence

gag

1 of 2 verb
  • The government is trying to gag the press.
  • They had been bound, gagged, and shot in the head.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2025
  • My mother felt grit on her skin and the fumes gagged her.
    — Literary Hub, 3 June 2026
  • Don’t gag, don’t cry — and my stomach lurched.
    — Kate Crane, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The teen was bound and gagged, a sock placed in his mouth and his lips taped shut.
    — Megan Crepeau, chicagotribune.com, 8 Dec. 2017
  • And if very soft, some child or pet will try to eat it and then gag up their lunch.
    — Mark Holan/special To Cleveland.com, cleveland.com, 23 July 2017
  • Kedarie had been gagged, his head covered by a garbage bag and his body doused in bleach.
    — USA TODAY, 3 Nov. 2017
  • She had been bound and gagged and stripped naked except for her gray-blue stockings.
    — Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 13 May 2020
  • One drawing shows what looks like a young female gagged and bound at her arms and legs.
    — Jean Casarez, CNN, 4 Sep. 2023
  • Who can pull half a pound of hair from a shower drain without gagging.
    — Hazlitt, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Officers are gagged from speaking out if they are placed on the list.
    — Hannah Grossman, Fox News, 13 Mar. 2023
  • Consider this the place to go for stocking stuffers and gag gifts.
    — Shanon Maglente, Good Housekeeping, 14 Jan. 2020
  • The roads of this old mining town are gagged with standstill traffic.
    — Elizabeth A. Harris, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2020
  • The boy was eating his lunch and then stood up, appearing to gag on his food.
    — Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 27 Apr. 2023
  • To gag someone is to leave them without words, for better or for worse.
    — Mia Thurow, jsonline.com, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Everyone’s gagged for the poster.
    — Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Everyone’s gagged for the poster.
    — Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 9 Dec. 2025
  • Everyone is gagged, with their mouths agape and eyes darting around.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2026
  • Demoustier holds her nose and mimes gagging.
    — Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 13 May 2026
  • Babies may gag instead of coughing, turn red or blue or briefly stop breathing.
    — Matthew Rodriguez, CBS News, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The Astros have now suffered six straight, running the gamut in ways to gag winnable games.
    — Chandler Rome, Houston Chronicle, 21 June 2019
  • More clothing was found around her neck and face and her mouth had been gagged, according to the report.
    — Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2023
  • The little boy often slept in a cabinet with a sock gagging his mouth.
    — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, 15 Dec. 2019
  • The suspect was holding two hostages who were bound and gagged inside a vehicle.
    — Fox News, 6 Nov. 2019
  • Stinging eyes and throats and the compulsion to gag and cough from pepper spray or tear gas will subside.
    — Terry Demio, Cincinnati.com, 4 June 2020
  • As smoke fills the vehicle, Clements can be seen opening the door, gagging for air.
    — Michael Harriot, The Root, 26 Mar. 2018
  • Last year, the Super Bowl champs lost by gagging a fourth-quarter lead at home.
    — Sam Mellinger, kansascity, 15 Oct. 2017
  • Then, suddenly, the camera swerves to a dark room where the man this song is addressed to sits gagged and tied to a chair.
    — Roisin Kiberd, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2023
  • When Cruz tried to call for help, one of the inmates allegedly used a towel to try to gag him.
    — Elizabeth Depompei, The Indianapolis Star, 10 June 2021
  • Some gags land, others don’t, and the script’s sudden bursts of melancholy dependably catch you in the gut.
    — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 9 Sep. 2025

gag

2 of 2 noun
  • They tied up the hostages and put gags in their mouths.
  • They hid his clothes as a gag.
  • The government is trying to put a gag on the press.
  • The movie relies on simpleminded gags for laughs.
  • The gag doesn’t stop at the visual.
    — Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Freak us out and test our gag reflex.
    — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Break the ice with a great gag gift for the couple in your life.
    — Jennifer Nied, Women's Health, 25 Aug. 2023
  • The first gag is the best and takes an awful sock at the talkies.
    — Thr Staff, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Jan. 2023
  • Not all the gags land, but the gags often don’t seem like the point.
    — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2025
  • Some of the gags, like some of the actors, land with a bit of a thud.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 22 Aug. 2023
  • Go back to the first wave of his fame, and to the gag that ran through his drollest roles.
    — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2022
  • No one has to parse the antique wordplay to be in on the gag.
    — Charles McNultytheater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2023
  • Packed with gags, this is a fun way to spend an afternoon.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 6 Mar. 2026
  • Meyers opened the segment with a gag.
    — Peter White, Deadline, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Make a rule that all gifts – gag or otherwise – must fit on theme.
    — USA Today, 7 Dec. 2022
  • So many songs, poems, novels, films, and gags.
    — Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
  • The gags are ridiculous, if gentle.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 11 Sep. 2025
  • For Petty, the gag was just an excuse to get in the door.
    — Chris Ware, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
  • Vision statements made her gag.
    — Suzy Welch, CNBC, 11 Aug. 2025
  • Buy your gag gift, write the name of it on a slip of paper, and stuff it inside an egg.
    — Erin Cavoto, Country Living, 16 Feb. 2023
  • Some of the gags (both meanings of the word apply) are inspired.
    — A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 3 Oct. 2025
  • The gag of it all was that Clay Aiken got two cars the next season.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 12 Mar. 2026
  • And the gag of it all is that no one really knows which movie is going to win!
    — Vulture Editors, Vulture, 15 Mar. 2026
  • But at least there are fewer Windex gags this time around — only two by my count.
    — Vulture, 12 Sep. 2023
  • Below are some of her sharp gags that didn’t make the cut on Sunday’s show.
    — Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 13 Jan. 2026
  • So, please, for the sake of my gag reflex, stop letting your clothing drag on the ground.
    — Sam Reed, Glamour, 10 Nov. 2022
  • The volunteer stuff was a running gag.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The gags are both belabored and feeble.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 26 June 2026
  • Some of what the pranksters say or do for the sake of a gag skirts credibility.
    — Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026
  • The actors and the crew are just building up to the moment when the gag happens.
    — Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Nov. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gag.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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