吐く

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The spelling is 吐く, read はく, and it is a godan transitive verb for expelling food, breath, or another substance through the mouth.
• Basic usage: 吐く means to vomit what was eaten or to exhale breath or air.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Vomiting food and breathing air out
  • The forms are 吐いて and 吐く. The first concerns throwing up after feeling ill; the second concerns exhaling on a winter morning so that the breath becomes visible.
• Illness followed by vomiting and white breath in cold air
  • 気分が悪くなり、食べた物を吐いてしまった。 — I felt ill and threw up what I had eaten.
  • 冬の朝、息を吐くと白く見えた。 — On a winter morning, my breath looked white when I exhaled.