expectorate

[ ik-spek-tuh-reyt ]
See synonyms for expectorate on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object),ex·pec·to·rat·ed, ex·pec·to·rat·ing.
  1. to eject or expel matter, as phlegm, from the throat or lungs by coughing or hawking and spitting; spit.

verb (used with object),ex·pec·to·rat·ed, ex·pec·to·rat·ing.
  1. to eject or expel (matter) in this way.

Origin of expectorate

1
1595–1605; <Latin expectorātus (past participle of expectorāre to expel from the breast), equivalent to ex-ex-1 + pector- (stem of pectus) breast + -ātus-ate1

Other words from expectorate

  • ex·pec·to·ra·tor, noun
  • un·ex·pec·to·rat·ed, adjective

Words Nearby expectorate

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

How to use expectorate in a sentence

  • The others, sitting on the floor, backs to the wall and knees drawn up to chins, smoke their pipes and expectorate.

  • "I'll be damned if I know," he responded, looking around for some place to expectorate and finding none.

    The Window at the White Cat | Mary Roberts Rinehart
  • He is advised not to blow the nose, but to hawk as much of the secretion as possible backwards and then expectorate it.

  • He was sitting perched like a toad on the wood-box where he could expectorate with convenience into the ashpan of the stove.

    Neighbours | Robert Stead
  • On one occasion he was playing a very close game, in the midst of which he left the table to expectorate in the fireplace.

    General Scott | General Marcus J. Wright

British Dictionary definitions for expectorate

expectorate

/ (ɪkˈspɛktəˌreɪt) /


verb
  1. to cough up and spit out (sputum from the respiratory passages)

Origin of expectorate

1
C17: from Latin expectorāre, literally: to drive from the breast, expel, from pectus breast

Derived forms of expectorate

  • expectoration, noun
  • expectorator, 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