emetic
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of emetic
1650–60; < Latin emeticus < Greek emetikós, equivalent to émet ( os ) vomiting + -ikos -ic
Explanation
An emetic is a medicine or potion that makes you vomit, which you might be given if you've taken poison or some other harmful substance. You can also use the word emetic in a more figurative sense to describe anything that makes you feel sick — the motion of a boat rocked by a storm could easily be an emetic, and the tuna sandwich the guy sitting next to you on the bus has just unwrapped might also be an emetic for everyone sitting nearby.
Vocabulary lists containing emetic
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Kindred
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The Suffix -ic, Part 4
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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.
The following formulæ would have been more befitting:—Calomel, half a grain, Tartar Emetic, half a grain, repeated with intermissions of an hour, till a vomit was secured.
From The Dog by Dinks
This favored The Rogue; told against the fast sprinters Swallow and Emetic.
From Garrison's Finish : a romance of the race course by Ferguson, W. B. M. (William Blair Morton)
Those who are afraid of taking this Medicine, which is usually called, the Emetic, may take that of Nº.
From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David)
Emetic, cathartic with calomel; then sorbentia, chalybeates, Peruvian bark.
From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Darwin, Erasmus
A loose Stool, or two, should be procured by the Emetic or Clysters, and he advises Sweating immediately after, in the manner recommended by Dr. Pringle.
From An Account of the Diseases which were most frequent in the British military hospitals in Germany by Monro, Donald
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
