Meanings
boak1
present singular third person boaks · participle present boaking · participle past boaked · past boaked
- obsoleteTo burp.
- ScotlandTo retch or vomit.
She had to keep stopping to spit gobbits of rising boak into sinks and old tea mugs.
2020, Douglas Stewart, Shuggie Bain4 more examples
— God sake... god sake... Mr Houston repeated as Mrs Houston boaked and I made a pathetic effort to mop some of the mess back into the sheets.
1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 94I was going to boak: I made the window and opened it but most of the sickness hit the window-sill in a heap.
1997, Alan Warner, Movern CallarHe’d skipped breakfast—didn’t like the idea of boaking it back up on the flight.
1999, Ian Rankin, Black and BlueI think it was at this moment that Patricia lurched from the table, informing everyone that she was going to be sick and indeed was as good as her word, throwing up before reaching the door (‘Heinrich, fetch a clout — the lassie’s boaked!’).
1999, Kate Atkinson, Behind the Scenes at the Museum
Boak2
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
boak · verb
- Proto-Germanic*belkaną“to belch”
- Old Englishbealcian“to belch, utter, bring up, sputter out, pour out, give forth, emit, come forth”
- Middle Englishbolken“to belch, vomit”
- Englishboak
From Middle English bolken (“to belch, vomit”), from Old English bealcian (“to belch, utter, bring up, sputter out, pour out, give forth, emit, come forth”), from Proto-Germanic *belkaną (“to belch”), ultimately imitative. Cognate with Dutch balken and bulken (“to bellow”), German bölken (“to roar”). See also belch.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Boak · proper noun
Scottish surname, probably related to boak (“ridge”).
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with boak
Cite this entry
boak. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boak
“boak.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boak. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “boak,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boak.
Source: boak on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.