styptic
Americanadjective
-
serving to contract organic tissue; astringent; binding.
-
serving to check hemorrhage or bleeding, as a drug; hemostatic.
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- nonstyptic adjective
- nonstyptical adjective
- stypticalness noun
- stypticity noun
Etymology
Origin of styptic
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin stȳpticus < Greek stȳpikós contractile, equivalent to stȳp- ( stypsis ) + -tikos -tic
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.
He and others also recommended I keep compression bandages and styptic powder—which can be applied to small wounds to help stop bleeding—in stock.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 27, 2025
The pilots transport medical supplies for cancer patients, first-aid kits for bone fractures, styptic drugs and medicines that need to be refrigerated, such as insulin.
From Reuters • Apr. 14, 2022
Also, styptic pencils to stanch cuts, and tampons, for nosebleeds, ominous inclusions in an environment where bodily fluids may be deadly.
From New York Times • Jan. 16, 2015
Like Simon Cowell, he is clearly a man who can compute profit margins within the space of a single styptic blink.
From The Guardian • Apr. 12, 2011
But I waited while he dabbed at the cut with styptic powder.
From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
