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expletive - 6 dictionary results

ex⋅ple⋅tive

  [ek-spli-tiv]
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–noun
1. an interjectory word or expression, frequently profane; an exclamatory oath.
2. a syllable, word, or phrase serving to fill out.
3. Grammar. a word considered as regularly filling the syntactic position of another, as it in It is his duty to go, or there in There is nothing here.
–adjective
4. Also, ex⋅ple⋅to⋅ry  [ek-spli-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] . added merely to fill out a sentence or line, give emphasis, etc.: Expletive remarks padded the speech.
Origin:
1600–10; < LL explētīvus serving to fill out, equiv. to L explēt(us) filled, filled up (ptp. of explēre; see explement ) + -īvus -ive

Related forms:
ex⋅ple⋅tive⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ex·ple·tive   (ěk'splĭ-tĭv)   
n.  
  1. An exclamation or oath, especially one that is profane, vulgar, or obscene.
    1. A word or phrase that does not contribute any meaning but is added only to fill out a sentence or a metrical line.
    2. Linguistics A word or other grammatical element that has no meaning but is needed to fill a syntactic position, such as the words it and there in the sentences It's raining and There are many books on the table.
adj.  Added or inserted in order to fill out something, such as a sentence or a metrical line.

[From Late Latin explētīvus, serving to fill out, from Latin explētus, past participle of explēre, to fill out : ex-, ex- + plēre, to fill; see pelə-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Expletive

Ex"ple*tive\, a. [L. expletivus, from expletus, p. p. of explere to fill up; ex out+plere to fill, akin to plenus full: cf. F. expl['e]tif. See Full.] Filling up; hence, added merely for the purpose of filling up; superfluous. "Expletive imagery." --Hallam.

Expletive phrases to plump his speech. --Barrow.

Expletive

Ex"ple*tive\, n. A word, letter, or syllable not necessary to the sense, but inserted to fill a vacancy; an oath.

While explectives their feeble aid to join, And ten low words oft creep in one dull line. --Pope.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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expletive [(ek-spluh-tiv)]

Any exclamation or oath, especially one that is obscene or profane, as in “Dammit, I forgot to buy the milk.”

Note: The Oval Office tapes of President Richard Nixon, released during the investigation of the Watergate scandal, made famous the phrase “expletive deleted,” which appeared frequently in expurgated transcripts of the tapes.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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expletive 
1612, originally "a word or phrase serving to fill out a sentence or metrical line," from L.L. expletivus "serving to fill out," from L. explere "fill out," from ex- "out" + plere "to fill" (see plenary). Sense of "exclamation," often in the form of a cuss word, first recorded 1815 in Sir Walter Scott.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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