To wash or rinse, as the mouth or throat, particular the latter, agitating the liquid (water or a medicinal preparation) by an expulsion of air from the lungs
If you gargle, you wash your mouth and throat by filling your mouth with a liquid, tipping your head back and using your throat to blow bubbles through the liquid, and finally spitting it out. Try gargling with salt water as soon as a cough begins At the sink, Neil noisily gargled something medicinal. to clean the inside of your mouth and throat by blowing air through water or medicine in the back of your throat gargle with (gargouiller, from gargouille; GARGOYLE)
to clean ones mouth by holding water or some other liquid in the back of the mouth and blowing air out from the lungs
the sound produced while gargling a medicated solution used for gargling and rinsing the mouth rinse one's mouth and throat with mouthwash; "gargle with this liquid"