expellant

American

[ik-spel-uhnt] / ɪkˈspɛl ənt /

Or expellent

adjective

expelling, or having the power to expel.

expellant British

/ ɪkˈspɛlənt /

adjective

forcing out or having the capacity to force out

"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

noun

a medicine used to expel undesirable substances or organisms from the body, esp worms from the digestive tract

"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

Etymology

Origin of expellant

1815–25; variant of expellent ( -ant ) < Latin expellent- (stem of expellēns ), present participle of expellere to expel; -ent

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.

One late sixteenth-century commentator on America recommended it as a purge for superfluous phlegm; and smokers believed it functioned as an antidote for poisons, as an expellant for "sour" humors, and as a healer of wounds.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023