What does vomiter mean?
A vomiter is principally a person who vomits, although the word can also refer more broadly to a thing or agent associated with causing vomiting. Its everyday use is uncommon compared with the more familiar words vomit and emetic, but it can be useful when the focus is on the person or agent doing the vomiting rather than on the act or the expelled material. In a medical or technical context, vomiter may mean an emetic, a substance intended to induce vomiting. The word can sound blunt, vivid, or slightly humorous, so writers often choose it for descriptive effect rather than neutral formal reference. Its meaning is straightforward, while its somewhat unusual status makes it memorable in narrative and journalistic writing.
A person who vomits; more broadly, something that vomits or causes vomiting.
"The suspected vomiter was isolated and monitored by staff."
The person sense is relatively uncommon and often sounds descriptive or informal.
An agent, especially a substance or medicine, that induces vomiting; an emetic.
"The poison was tested as a vomiter in carefully controlled experiments."
This sense is mainly technical or medical.
The regular plural is used when referring to more than one person or agent that vomits.
"The hospital isolated several vomiters while checking for food poisoning."
A vivid, slightly blunt noun for someone who brings up their stomach—and, in technical usage, an agent that makes vomiting happen.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of vomiter
Vomiter was formed in English by adding the suffix -er to the base vomit, creating a noun for something that vomits or causes vomiting. English vomit ultimately comes through Middle English from Latin vomitare, a frequentative form of vomere, “to vomit.” The same Latin root also underlies related English words such as vomitive, vomitory, and vomication, as well as the medical term emetic.
Related word forms
How vomiter is actually used
The word is relatively uncommon. It is most natural in descriptive, medical, or narrative contexts and can sound blunt or informal; the emetic sense is mainly technical.
Easily confused with vomiter
Vomit can name the act of throwing up, the material expelled, or the act of expelling it, whereas a vomiter is someone or something that performs the action or, in technical contexts, causes it.