abstersive
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of abstersive
1400–50; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Medieval Latin abstersīvus, equivalent to Latin absters ( us ), past participle of abstergēre ( see abstergent) + -īvus -ive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Methinks this water should bee admirably good for whitening clothes for cloathiers, because it is impregnated so much with nitre, which is abstersive.
From The Natural History of Wiltshire by John Aubrey
A tablet stood of that abstersive tree, Where Aethiop's swarthy bird did build her nest; Inlaid it was with Libyan ivory, Drawn from the jaws of Afric's prudent beast.
From Poetical Works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham by Sir John Denham
They used it first, as Pownall the local historian tells you, "as a vulnerary and abstersive," and healed wounds with it; then some labourers accidentally drank it, and Epsom's fortune was made.
From Highways and Byways in Surrey by Hugh Thomson
But you shelter from Nature in houses, you protect yourselves by clothes that are useful instead of being ornamental, you wash—with such abstersive chemicals as soap for example—and above all you consult doctors.”
From A Modern Utopia by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
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