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

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

un·pur·ga·tive·ly, adverb

Words nearby purgative

pure line, purely, pure reason, purfle, purgation, purgative, Purgatoire, purgatorial, purgatory, purge, purging

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use purgative in a sentence

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
The first milk of the cow after calving, is slightly purgative, which is essential to cleanse the stomach of the calf.
Domestic Animals|Richard L. Allen
It occurs in several recipes of the Anglo-Saxon Leechdoms, as a strong and bitter purgative.
The plant-lore and garden-craft of Shakespeare|Henry Nicholson Ellacombe
Aloes is more frequently taken than, perhaps, any known purgative.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley

It is needless to give a purgative without bleeding, as, till this is done, it will not operate.
A Treatise on Sheep:|Ambrose Blacklock
Abster′gent, serving to cleanse; Abster′sive, having the quality of cleansing: purgative.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|Various

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 ]

An agent used for purging the bowels.

adj.

Tending to cause evacuation of the bowels.

Other words from purgative

pur′ga•tive adj.

purgative

Origin of purgative

OTHER WORDS FROM purgative

Words nearby purgative

Words related to purgative

How to use purgative in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for purgative

Derived forms of purgative

Medical definitions for purgative

Other words from purgative