expectorate

[ik-spek-tuh-reyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR expectorate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), ex·pec·to·rat·ed, ex·pec·to·rat·ing.

to eject or expel matter, as phlegm, from the throat or lungs by coughing or hawking and spitting; spit.

verb (used with object), ex·pec·to·rat·ed, ex·pec·to·rat·ing.

to eject or expel (matter) in this way.

RELATED WORDS

spew, hawk, spit

Nearby words

Origin of expectorate

1595–1605; < Latin expectorātus (past participle of expectorāre to expel from the breast), equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + pector- (stem of pectus) breast + -ātus -ate¹

Related formsex·pec·to·ra·tor, nounun·ex·pec·to·rat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for expectorate

In a very short time a profuse perspiration broke out over my whole body, and I began to expectorate freely.
The Quadroon|Mayne Reid
"This ain't no place to work like that," he said; then he began to expectorate over my block and annoy me in that way.
From the Bottom Up|Alexander Irvine
Don Jorge was everywhere, and none could talk so volubly nor gesticulate and expectorate so vehemently as he.
Carmen Ariza|Charles Francis Stocking
He turns to expectorate, sweeping the large shop with a quick, watchful eye.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman

The mucus accumulating during sleep often awakens the patient in efforts at hawking and spitting to detach and expectorate it.
A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II|Various

British Dictionary definitions for expectorate

expectorate

verb

to cough up and spit out (sputum from the respiratory passages)

Derived Formsexpectoration, nounexpectorator, noun

Word Origin for expectorate

C17: from Latin expectorāre, literally: to drive from the breast, expel, from pectus breast

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for expectorate

expectorate

c.1600, "to clear out the chest or lungs," from Latin expectoratus, past participle of expectorare "scorn, expel from the mind," literally "make a clean breast," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + pectus (genitive pectoris) "breast" (see pectoral (adj.)). Use as a euphemism for "spit" is first recorded 1827. Original sense in expectorant. Related: Expectorated; expectorating.

Medicine definitions for expectorate

expectorate

[ĭk-spĕk′tə-rāt′]

v.

To eject saliva, mucus, or other body fluid from the mouth; spit.

To clear out the chest and lungs by coughing up and spitting out matter.

Related formsex•pec′to•ra′tion n.