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purgative

[ pur-guh-tiv ]
/ ˈpɜr gə tɪv /
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adjective
purging or cleansing, especially by causing evacuation of the bowels.
noun
a purgative medicine or agent; cathartic.
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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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use purgative in a sentence

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
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