expectorate - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ex·pec·to·rate

Audio Help [ik-spek-tuh-reyt] Pronunciation Key verb, -rat·ed, -rat·ing.

–verb (used without object)

1.	to eject or expel matter, as phlegm, from the throat or lungs by coughing or hawking and spitting; spit.

–verb (used with object)

2.	to eject or expel (matter) in this way.

[Origin: 1595–1605; < L expectorātus (ptp. of expectorāre to expel from the breast), equiv. to ex- ex-¹ + pector- (s. of pectus) breast + -ātus -ate¹

]

—Related forms

ex·pec·to·ra·tor, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
expectorate

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ex·pec·to·rate Audio Help   (ĭk-spěk'tə-rāt') Pronunciation Key
v.   ex·pec·to·rat·ed, ex·pec·to·rat·ing, ex·pec·to·rates

v.   tr.

To eject from the mouth; spit.
To cough up and eject by spitting.

v. intr.

To spit.
To clear out the chest and lungs by coughing up and spitting out matter.

[Latin expectorāre, expectorāt-, to drive from the chest : ex-, ex- + pectus, pector-, chest.]

ex·pec'to·ra'tion n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
expectorate

1601, "to clear out the chest or lungs," from L. expectoratus, pp. of expectore "scorn, expel from the mind," lit. "make a clean breast," from ex- "out" + pectus (gen. pectoris) "breast." Use as a euphemism for "spit" is first recorded 1827. Original sense in expectorant (1811).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

expectorate
verb
1.	clear out the chest and lungs; "This drug expectorates quickly"
2.	discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Expectorate

Ex*pec"to*rate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Expectorated; p. pr. & vb. n. Expectorating.] [L. expecrorare to drive from the breast; ex out + pectus, pectiris, breast. See Pectoral.] To eject from the trachea or lungs; to discharge, as phlegm or other matter, by coughing, hawking, and spitting; to spit forth.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Expectorate

Ex*pec"to*rate\, v. i. To discharge matter from the lungs or throat by hawking and spitting; to spit.

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