puke

Etymology 1

Probably imitative; or, alternatively from Proto-Germanic *pukaną (“to spit, puff”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). If so, then cognate with German pfauchen, fauchen (“to hiss, spit”). Compare also Dutch spugen (“to spit, spit up”), German spucken (“to spit, puke, throw up”), Old English spīwan (“to vomit, spit”). More at spew. Attested as early as 1581, first mention is the derivative pukishness (“the tendency to be sick frequently”). In 1600, "to spit up, regurgitate", recorded in the Seven Ages of Man speech in Shakespeare's As You Like It.

noun

1. (colloquial, uncountable) vomit.
   2007, The Guardian, The Guardian Science blog, "The latest in the war on terror: the puke saber" the puke saber … pulses light over rapidly changing wavelengths, apparently inducing "disorientation, nausea and even vomiting"
2. (colloquial, countable) A drug that induces vomiting.
   at 8 a.m. took a puke of vinum antimoniale; which operated very kindly; was very weak the remainder of the day. 1776, Physician Lewis Beebe, Diary of a Revolutionary Army Physician
3. (colloquial, countable) A worthless, despicable person.
4. (US, slang, derogatory, countable) A person from Missouri.
   "Pukes" and "suckers" had badly mauled the Saints, the first pummeling them from Missouri and the second from Illinois. 2009, Clive Scott Chisholm, Following the Wrong God Home: Footloose in an American Dream

verb

1. (colloquial, transitive, intransitive) To vomit; to throw up; to eject from the stomach.
2. (intransitive, finance, slang) To sell securities or investments at a loss, often under duress or pressure, in order to satisfy liquidity or margin requirements, or out of a desire to exit a deteriorating market.

Etymology 2

noun

1. A fine grade of woolen cloth.
2. A very dark, dull, brownish-red color.