styptic

[ stip-tik ]

adjectiveAlso styp·ti·cal.
  1. serving to contract organic tissue; astringent; binding.

  2. serving to check hemorrhage or bleeding, as a drug; hemostatic.

noun
  1. a styptic agent or substance.

Origin of styptic

1
1350–1400; Middle English <Late Latin stȳpticus<Greek stȳpikós contractile, equivalent to stȳp- (see stypsis) + -tikos-tic

Other words from styptic

  • styp·tic·i·ty [stip-tis-i-tee], /stɪpˈtɪs ɪ ti/, styp·ti·cal·ness, noun
  • non·styp·tic, adjective
  • non·styp·ti·cal, adjective

Words Nearby styptic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use styptic in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for styptic

styptic

/ (ˈstɪptɪk) /


adjective
  1. contracting the blood vessels or tissues

noun
  1. a styptic drug

Origin of styptic

1
C14: via Late Latin, from Greek stuptikos capable of contracting; see stypsis

Derived forms of styptic

  • stypticity (stɪpˈtɪsɪtɪ), noun

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