Home UK English keck

Main meanings of keck in English

: keck1keck2

keck1

Pronunciation /kɛk/

verb

[no object] informal

  • Feel as if one is about to vomit; retch.

    • ‘he stood there almost kecking from disgust’
    • ‘He did appreciate the chickens again, though not to the point of kecking, and thought that any farm animal that made noise (notably a turkey and some pigs) was amusing.’
    • ‘There's no reason to believe the president has any inclination to stop him from kecking up his verbal bile all over the office carpets again.’
    • ‘I was actually kecking with him!’
    • ‘But before she could finish her sentence, she kecked into a white plastic bucket behind the contestants’ table.’
    be sick, spew, spew up, fetch up

Origin

Early 17th century imitative.

Main meanings of keck in English

: keck1keck2

keck2

Pronunciation /kɛk/

noun

dialect British

  • Cow parsley or a similar plant.

    ‘Other names, such as the ugly "keck", or the ominous "devil's oatmeal" have less to recommend them.’
    • ‘It sounds like cow parsley to me too, or possibly some sort of keck type thing.’

Origin

Early 17th century from earlier dialect kex (perhaps of Celtic origin), interpreted as plural.