purgative

[ pur-guh-tiv ]

/ ˈpɜr gə tɪv /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR purgative ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

purging or cleansing, especially by causing evacuation of the bowels.

noun

a purgative medicine or agent; cathartic.

Words nearby purgative

puree, purehearted, purely, purfle, purgation, purgative, purgatoire, purgatorial, purgatory, purge, purging nut

Origin of purgative

1350–1400; < Late Latin pūrgātīvus (see purgation, -ive); replacing Middle English purgatyf < Middle French < Late Latin, as above

OTHER WORDS FROM purgative

pur·ga·tive·ly, adverbnon·pur·ga·tive, adjectivenon·pur·ga·tive·ly, adverbun·pur·ga·tive, adjective

un·pur·ga·tive·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for purgative

That makes the playing of a football game not purgative but grotesque in the current context.
Penn State Should Cancel the Rest of Its Football Season|Michael Tomasky|November 12, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Take a purgative, bathe with cold lotion, and exclude light to keep down inflammation.
Mrs. Hale's Receipts for the Million|Sarah Josepha Hale
The juice of the leaves is prescribed internally as a purgative and anthelmintic.
The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines|T. H. Pardo de Tavera
It is needless to give a purgative without bleeding, as, till this is done, it will not operate.
A Treatise on Sheep:|Ambrose Blacklock

Such Stools were always bilious, as were commonly those procured by purgative Medicines.
An Account of the Diseases which were most frequent in the British military hospitals in Germany|Donald Monro
Linseed oil is also a purgative and less irritating than aloes; the dose is from ten to thirty ounces.
Riding and Driving|Edward L. Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for purgative

purgative

/ (ˈpɜːɡətɪv) med /

noun

a drug or agent for purging the bowels

adjective

causing evacuation of the bowels; cathartic

Derived forms of purgative

purgatively, adverb

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

Medical definitions for purgative

purgative

[ pûr′gə-tĭv ]

n.

An agent used for purging the bowels.

adj.

Tending to cause evacuation of the bowels.

Other words from purgative

pur′ga•tive adj.

purgative

adjective

noun

Words related to purgative

Words nearby purgative

Origin of purgative

OTHER WORDS FROM purgative

Examples from the Web for purgative

British Dictionary definitions for purgative

noun

adjective

Derived forms of purgative

Medical definitions for purgative

n.

adj.

Other words from purgative