blech

See also: Blech

English

Etymology 1

Imitative.

Alternative forms

• bleck

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɛk/, /blɛx/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛk

Interjection

blech

1. (slang) An imitation of the sound of gagging, used to express disgust or disdain.

   Blech! Look at all those maggots!

   • 2023 November 14, Beth Romero, “Be a Weeble”, in Happy AF: Simple Strategies to Get Unstuck, Bounce Back, and Live Your Best Life, Berkeley, Calif.: She Writes Press, →ISBN, chapter 1 (The Art of Letting Go, Bouncing Back, and Being):

     Speaking of showering: after my dad’s passing, I realized I was more vested in my puppy’s grooming than my own. […] On more than one occasion, I had to ask myself if I brushed my teeth that day. Blech.

Alternative forms

• bleck (rare)

Synonyms

• feh, pfaugh, pish, pshaw, pooh; see also Thesaurus:bah

Derived terms

• blechy
• bletcherous

Translations

gagging sound of disgust

• Catalan: ecs (ca)
• German: kotz (de), würg (de)
• Greek: μπλιάχ (bliách)
• Polish: ble (pl), fe (pl), fu (pl), fuj (pl), pfu, pfuj
• Russian: тьфу (ru) (tʹfu)
• Vietnamese: ọe (vi)

Verb

blech (third-person singular simple present bleches, present participle bleching, simple past and past participle bleched)

1. (slang) To have the vomiting reflex triggered.

See also

• gag
• argh

Etymology 2

A copper blech covers the lit burners on a stovetop, keeping food warm for the Shabbat meal.

From Yiddish בלעך (blekh). Related to German Blech.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɛx/

Noun

blech (plural blechs)

1. (Judaism) A metal sheet used to cover stovetop burners on Shabbat to allow food to be kept warm without violating the prohibition against cooking.

Synonyms

• plata

Translations

metal sheet for keeping food warm on Shabbat

• Hebrew: פְּלָטַת שַׁבָּת (p'latat shabat), פְּלָטָה (he) (p'lata)
• Polish: blech (pl) m
• Yiddish: בלעך (blekh)

Anagrams

• Belch, belch

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈblɛx]
• Rhymes: -ɛx

Noun

blech

1. genitive plural of blecha