呕吐

• Pinyin: ǒu tù
• Hanzi breakdown: 呕 = 口 (mouth) + 区 (phonetic, bounded area) — mouth discharging; 吐 = 口 (mouth) + 土 (earth/ground) — to expel from the mouth

Meaning

To vomit; to throw up; to expel stomach contents through the mouth.

The standard medical and formal term for vomiting. Used in clinical descriptions, medical reports, and polite conversational contexts. Colloquially, 吐 alone is more common in speech. 恶心呕吐 (nausea and vomiting) is a fixed medical collocation.

Examples

1. 患者入院时出现持续高烧、头痛及反复呕吐等症状，医生初步判断可能为急性肠胃炎。 When the patient was admitted, they had persistent high fever, headaches, and repeated vomiting; the doctor’s initial assessment was possible acute gastroenteritis.
2. 他晕船严重，船行不到半小时便开始呕吐，不得不躺下休息。 He gets badly seasick; less than half an hour after the boat set off, he started vomiting and had to lie down and rest.
3. 化疗过程中恶心呕吐是常见的副作用，医生通常会为患者开具止吐药物以减轻不适。 Nausea and vomiting are common side effects during chemotherapy, so doctors often prescribe anti-nausea medication to ease the discomfort.

Usage Guide

Context: medicine, health, daily life

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 旅行中如果出现严重腹泻、持续呕吐或高热症状，应立即就医，切勿自行服用来历不明的药物，以免延误病情或造成不必要的风险。(If you experience severe diarrhoea, persistent vomiting, or a high fever whilst travelling, you should seek medical attention immediately and must not take medicines of unknown origin on your own, so as to avoid delaying treatment or creating unnecessary risks.)
• 孕期早期的恶心呕吐通常在十二周前后逐渐减轻，但若呕吐过于剧烈导致无法正常进食，则需及时就医评估是否存在妊娠剧吐的情况。(Nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy typically ease around the twelfth week, but if vomiting is so severe that normal eating is impossible, medical assessment should be sought promptly to determine whether hyperemesis gravidarum is present.)

Don't Say

• 将'呕吐'用于比喻表达厌恶，如'看到这种行为真想呕吐' — while this exists in colloquial speech, 呕吐 is primarily a clinical term; for expressing strong disgust figuratively, 恶心 or 令人作呕 are more idiomatic choices

Origin & History

呕 = 口 (mouth) + 区 (section/bounded) — mouth expelling contents; 吐 = 口 (mouth) + 土 (earth) — to push out through the mouth like earth

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal