Prank vs. Gag — What's the Difference?

A mischievous trick or practical joke.

A gag is usually an item or device designed to prevent speech, often as a restraint device to stop the subject from calling for help and keep its wearer silent. This is usually done by blocking the mouth, partially or completely, or attempting to prevent the tongue, lips, or jaw from moving in the normal patterns of speech.

To decorate or dress ostentatiously or gaudily

A piece of cloth put in or over a person's mouth to prevent them from speaking

A practical joke or mischievous trick.

A device for keeping the patient's mouth open during a dental or surgical operation.

(obsolete) An evil deed; a malicious trick, an act of cruel deception.

A joke or an amusing story, especially one forming part of a comedian's act or in a film

(transitive) To perform a practical joke on; to trick.

Put a gag on (someone)

To call someone's phone and promptly hang up

Choke or retch

To adorn in a showy manner; to dress or equip ostentatiously.

Be very eager to have or do (something)

(intransitive) To make an ostentatious show.

Tell jokes

(obsolete) Full of gambols or tricks.

Something forced into or put over the mouth to prevent speaking or crying out.

To adorn in a showy manner; to dress or equip ostentatiously; - often followed by up; as, to prank up the body. See Prink.

An obstacle to or a censoring of free speech.

To make ostentatious show.

A device placed in the mouth to keep it open, as in dentistry.

A gay or sportive action; a ludicrous, merry, or mischievous trick; a caper; a frolic.

A practical joke

Full of gambols or tricks.

A comic effect or remark.

Acting like a clown or buffoon

The act or an instance of gagging or choking.

A ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement

To prevent from speaking or crying out by using a gag.

Dress or decorate showily or gaudily;

To stop or restrain from exercising free speech

Dress up showily;

To cause to choke, retch, or undergo a regurgitative spasm.

To keep (the mouth) open by using a dental gag.

To block off or obstruct (a pipe or valve, for example).

To experience a regurgitative spasm in the throat, as from revulsion to a food or smell or in reflexive response to an introduced object.

To make jokes or quips

A device to restrain speech, such as a rag in the mouth secured with tape or a rubber ball threaded onto a cord or strap.

(legal) An order or rule forbidding discussion of a case or subject.

(figurative) Any suppression of freedom of speech.

A joke or other mischievous prank.

(film) a device or trick used to create a practical effect; a gimmick

A convulsion of the upper digestive tract.

(archaic) A mouthful that makes one retch or choke.

Mycteroperca microlepis, a species of grouper.

(intransitive) To experience the vomiting reflex.

(transitive) To cause to heave with nausea.

(transitive) To restrain someone's speech by blocking his or her mouth.

(transitive) To pry or hold open by means of a gag.

To restrain someone's speech without using physical means.

(ambitransitive) To choke; to retch.

To deceive (someone); to con.

To astonish (someone); to be at a loss for words.

To stop the mouth of, by thrusting sometimes in, so as to hinder speaking; hence, to silence by authority or by violence; not to allow freedom of speech to.

To pry or hold open by means of a gag.

To cause to heave with nausea.

To heave with nausea; to retch.

Something thrust into the mouth or throat to hinder speaking.

A mouthful that makes one retch; a choking bit; as, a gag of mutton fat.

A speech or phrase interpolated offhand by an actor on the stage in his part as written, usually consisting of some seasonable or local allusion.

A humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter;

Restraint put into a person's mouth to prevent speaking or shouting

Prevent from speaking out;

Be too tight; rub or press;

Tie a gag around someone's mouth in order to silence them;

Make jokes or quips;

Struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake;

Cause to retch or choke

Make an unsuccessful effort to vomit; strain to vomit