To retch or gag; to make a sound as if about to vomit.
From Middle English bawken, possibly from Old Norse bauka or a Germanic root related to gagging sounds. The word is onomatopoetic in nature, mimicking the actual sound of retching. Related to modern hawk and hork.
Bawke is pure onomatopoeia—the word literally sounds like what it means, which is why it survived in some English dialects even as it disappeared from standard dictionaries! Our mouths shape the same way for the sound and the action.
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