expectorate
pronunciation
How to pronounce expectorate in British English:
UK [ɪkˈspektəreɪt]
How to pronounce expectorate in American English:
US [ɪk'spektəreɪt]
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- Verb:
- clear out the chest and lungs
- discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth
Word Origin
- expectorate (v.)
- c. 1600, "to clear out the chest or lungs," a literal use of Latin expectoratus, past participle of expectorare, which in classical use was figurative, "scorn, expel from the mind," literally "drive from the breast, make a clean breast," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + pectus (genitive pectoris) "breast" (see pectoral (adj.)). Its use as a euphemism for "spit" is recorded by 1827. The classical Latin figurative sense appears in English 17c. but is now obsolete. Related: Expectorated; expectorating.
Example
- 1. Enabled him to expectorate in a new and admirable way .
- 2. Do not expectorate on the sidewalks .
- 3. He began to expectorate small amounts of blood-streaked sputum .
- 4. N : you should sit up.that will help your deep breathing , and help you to expectorate and prevent the sputum from accumulating in your lungs to cause pneumonia .
- 5. The cardinal symptoms for the stubborn cough , the expectorate , the phlegm may turn the purulent gradually or mix have the blood .