Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Gently stimulating evacuation of the bowels; laxative.
- noun A mild laxative.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In medicine, gently purgative; having the quality of opening the bowels; laxative; deobstruent.
- noun A medicine which gently opens the bowels; a laxative.
- noun Also
aperitive .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Med.) Gently opening the bowels; laxative.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective having a gentle
laxative effect. - noun a laxative, either in the form of a medicine or a food such as
hops orasparagus , which has the effect of moving thebowels , or aidingdigestion and preventingconstipation .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective mildly laxative
- noun a purging medicine; stimulates evacuation of the bowels
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
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Examples
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It will be perfect KGB—as much powder as will fit on the head of a thumbtack, made from the same plant my mother used as an aperient when I was a child.
TOO MANY MURDERS Colleen McCullough 2009
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I mention the circumstance here, thinking it probable that this is the first occasion on which the valuable medicine in question was ever used as a conversational aperient.
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Gerzilin, or sesamum — “wild sesamum,” was shown to us, and is said to be well known among native nurses as a very gentle and tasteless aperient for children.
A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries 2004
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Brackish water in the Desert is perhaps salutary to travellers: heated as they are by the journey, and often labouring under obstructions from the quality of their food on the road, it acts as a gentle aperient, and thus supplies the place of medicinal draughts; but the contrary is the case when the same water is used during a continued sedentary residence, when long habit only can accustom the stomach to receive it.
Travels in Arabia 2003
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They know how to let blood, and to compound different sorts of aperient medicines.
Travels in Arabia 2003
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The water here is bad, and of a strong aperient quality.
Travels in Arabia 2003
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The Ageyl said that the best aperient was to drink camel-milk from cups of the scooped-out rind.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom Thomas Edward 2003
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A dose of bismuth succeeded the aperient, and then I repeated my question.
The Mummy Case Peters, Elizabeth 1985
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Pouring out a dessert spoonful of the gentle aperient I commonly employ for this ailment, I seized him by the nose and, as his mouth opened in a quest for oxygen, I poured the medicine down his throat.
The Mummy Case Peters, Elizabeth 1985
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Afterwards, ceasing to possess this aperient property, it is calculated solely for affording nutrition; and finally, at a certain period from delivery, it gradually becomes impoverished, loses its former healthy qualities altogether, and acquires others which are injurious to life.
Remarks on the Subject of Lactation Edward Morton
rolig commented on the word aperient
See aspergent for a citation.
July 29, 2008