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expectorate
[ ik-spek-tuh-reyt ]
verb (used without object)
- to eject or expel matter, as phlegm, from the throat or lungs by coughing or hawking and spitting; spit.
verb (used with object)
- to eject or expel (matter) in this way.
expectorate
/ ɪkˈspɛktəˌreɪt /
verb
- to cough up and spit out (sputum from the respiratory passages)
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Derived Forms
- exˈpectoˌrator, noun
- exˌpectoˈration, noun
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Other Words From
- ex·pecto·rator noun
- unex·pecto·rated adjective
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Word History and Origins
Origin of expectorate1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of expectorate1
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Example Sentences
The others, sitting on the floor, backs to the wall and knees drawn up to chins, smoke their pipes and expectorate.
"I'll be damned if I know," he responded, looking around for some place to expectorate and finding none.
He is advised not to blow the nose, but to hawk as much of the secretion as possible backwards and then expectorate it.
He was sitting perched like a toad on the wood-box where he could expectorate with convenience into the ashpan of the stove.
On one occasion he was playing a very close game, in the midst of which he left the table to expectorate in the fireplace.
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