Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of discharging phlegm or mucus from the throat or lungs, by coughing or hawking and spitting; euphemistically, a spitting.
  • noun The matter expectorated.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of ejecting phlegm or mucus from the throat or lungs, by coughing, hawking, and spitting.
  • noun That which is expectorated, as phlegm or mucus.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The action of expectorating, of ejecting phlegm or mucus from the throat or lungs by coughing, hawking, or spitting.
  • noun That which is expectorated, as phlegm or mucus.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the process of coughing up and spitting out
  • noun the act of spitting (forcefully expelling saliva)

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Many survived, and blessed Captain Southcombe, not at first cordially — for the man yet remains to be discovered who is grateful to his doctor — but gradually more and more, and with that healthy action of the human bosom which is called expectoration, whenever grateful memories were rekindled by the smell of tar.

    Springhaven Richard Doddridge 2004

  • Many survived, and blessed Captain Southcombe, not at first cordially -- for the man yet remains to be discovered who is grateful to his doctor -- but gradually more and more, and with that healthy action of the human bosom which is called expectoration, whenever grateful memories were rekindled by the smell of tar.

    Springhaven : a Tale of the Great War 1862

  • In an unfortunate and wholly predictable electronic expectoration, the headlines and reactions proliferated, slandering author, book, and most of all, subject.

    Vamsee Juluri: Gandhi: The Truth Vamsee Juluri 2011

  • Later, Matta said he didn't see the actual expectoration.

    Ohio State Star Accuses Wisconsin Fans Of Spitting AP 2011

  • Later, Matta said he didn't see the actual expectoration.

    Ohio State Star Accuses Wisconsin Fans Of Spitting AP 2011

  • Perhaps Diouf's occasional penchant for expectoration is a little more difficult to defend.

    Think Diouf is vile? Listen to the fans | Kevin McKenna 2011

  • Battle royal was waged, amid the smoking of many cigarettes and the expectoration of much tobacco-juice, wherein the tramp successfully held his own, even when a socialist workman sneered, There is no god but the Unknowable, and Herbert

    Chapter 13 2010

  • Whether it be through fever and inflammation, cough and expectoration, nausea and vomiting, fainting and comatose states, and even the variety of emotional and mental states, each symptom represents the best efforts of the bodymind in its effort to fight infection and/or adapt to physical and psychological stresses.

    Dana Ullman: Unplugging From Your Medicine Cabinet: Respecting the Body's Intelligence 2010

  • Aniseed is another valuable remedy for hard dry cough with difficult expectoration.

    Natural Remedies for Curing Cough 2009

  • Mrs. Trollope writes of the profound ickiness of wearing floor length dresses in a country where everyone chewed tobacco and very few cared about the final resting place of their expectoration.

    "These are not just regular costumes. These are the costumes that remind someone of the plantation in Gone with the Wind." Ann Althouse 2009

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