What does vomiting mean?
Vomiting is the forceful expulsion of the stomach's contents through the mouth, commonly as the result of nausea, illness, pregnancy, injury, or irritation of the digestive system. The word functions both as a noun naming the act or process and as the present participle of the verb vomit, as in “the child was vomiting.” It can also denote the material expelled, although that use is less common. Although the basic meaning is neutral, the subject naturally carries some unpleasant physical associations. Medical descriptions commonly distinguish nausea, the sensation of impending sickness, from vomiting, the actual expulsion of stomach contents. The term is useful because it describes a distinctive bodily process clearly and appears in everyday speech, clinical reporting, and discussions of food poisoning, motion sickness, pregnancy-related illness, and medication side effects.
The act or process of expelling the contents of the stomach through the mouth; also, less commonly, the material so expelled.
"Her vomiting continued for several hours after she was given medication."
The process is normally treated as an uncountable singular noun; plural forms are uncommon.
The present-participle and gerund form of vomit, used to describe the act of expelling stomach contents through the mouth.
"The dog was vomiting repeatedly after eating something spoiled."
This form is normally used as a present participle or gerund rather than as the finite verb form.
The plural is grammatically regular but uncommon; singular or uncountable usage is normally preferred when referring to the process.
"The nurse documented three separate vomitings before the medication took effect."
Latin vomere meant “to spew forth,” giving vomiting a root that is refreshingly blunt about what happens.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of vomiting
Vomiting is an English formation from the verb vomit. That verb belongs to a Latin family rooted in Latin vomere, meaning “to spew forth” or “eject,” with Latin vomitus also preserved in English medical vocabulary. The -ing form came to function both as a present participle describing an ongoing action and as a noun naming the process, while words such as vomitive and vomitory preserve the same Latin root.
Related word forms
How vomiting is actually used
Vomiting is neutral and common in both medical and general contexts. Informal alternatives include “throwing up” and “upchucking,” while “emesis” is a technical term. As a noun referring to the process, it is normally used in the singular or as an uncountable mass noun.
Easily confused with vomiting
Vomiting normally names the act or process, whereas vomit as a noun usually names the expelled material.