Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Contracting the tissues or blood vessels; astringent.
- adjective Tending to check bleeding by contracting the tissues or blood vessels; hemostatic.
- noun A styptic drug or substance.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Astringent; oonstrictive; binding.
- Having the quality of checking hemorrhage or bleeding; stanching.
- noun An astringent; something causing constriction or constraint.
- noun A substance employed to check a flow of blood by application to the bleeding orifice or surface.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) A styptic medicine.
- adjective Producing contraction; stopping bleeding; having the quality of restraining hemorrhage when applied to the bleeding part; astringent.
- adjective (Bot.) an American leguminous herb (
Cassia occidentalis ) closely related to the wild senna.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Bringing about contraction of tissues, especially to stop bleeding
- noun A substance used for styptic results.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a drug that causes contraction of body tissues and canals
- adjective tending to check bleeding by contracting the tissues or blood vessels
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Makes sense, I suppose, since it's also used in styptic pencils. bullfroghrr
From The Tips Box: App Purchases, Paragraphs, To-Do Time Limits | Lifehacker Australia 2010
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Smaller than this Common Burnet is the Salad Burnet, _Poterium sanguisorba, quod sanguineos fluxus sistat_, a useful [431] styptic, which is also cordial, and promotes perspiration.
Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure William Thomas Fernie
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The Low Latin equivalent of the Arabic _tubb [= a] q_ "styptic," is _bitumen_, whence
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I never met a writer who didn't bleed at the slightest unfavorable comment, and no number of favorable or even ecstatic remarks will serve as a styptic pencil.
"...there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." greygirlbeast 2009
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I had prepped precocious Cindy Hammer for a feature on Camp Pa-He-Tsi in Winnisquam, Michigan, using every tool in my portable makeup kit; styptic pencil, upper armpit blusher, highlighter.
A Day in the Life of a Supermodel Armpit Makeup Artist Con Chapman 2011
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Makes sense, I suppose, since it's also used in styptic pencils.
From The Tips Box: App Purchases, Paragraphs, To-Do Time Limits | Lifehacker Australia 2010
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I will get a styptic pencil, or a bandage, or some concrete mortar, and you will be good as new in just a minute.
Blood Lite II: Overbite Kevin J. Anderson 2010
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But I wonder whether you could affix a styptic pencil to the contraption, too.
Now people who can't bend over can still shave their legs 2010
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They want shaved faces, preferably with little pieces of toilet paper stuck to them or the faint aroma of a styptic pencil.
Hollywood heartthrobs come to dinner (now if they would only leave) 2010
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I found him in the lavatory, straight razor in hand, his half-shaven chin dotted in styptic, the water of his bowl a not unpleasant shade of pink.
The Monstrumologist William James Henry 2009
slumry commented on the word styptic
lovely word which surfaces occassionally in my brain--when I was a child, my father used a styptic pencil when he cut himself shaving. Haven't heard much talk of styptic pencils lately. . .
June 15, 2007
arby commented on the word styptic
I know, this word is cool - it's like a cross between cryptic and stygian.
June 21, 2007
seanahan commented on the word styptic
It sounds cool, I probably wouldn't ever be able to use it, but it has a nice ring to it.
June 22, 2007
jennarenn commented on the word styptic
I have read about these, but always wondered how they worked.
June 22, 2007
reesetee commented on the word styptic
I think styptic pencils are made of anhydrous aluminum sulfate, which causes blood vessel constriction where you apply it. The ones I remember looked like small pieces of chalk. :-)
June 22, 2007
minerva commented on the word styptic
To be sure, I shall break a vessel: there's no doubt of that; and a bottle of Eaton's styptic shall be sent for; but no doctor.
Lovelace to Belford, Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
December 15, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word styptic
We kept styptic powder on hand for the (fortunately rare) occasions when we trimmed our guinea pigs' nails. (If you cut a little too far, it nicks the blood vessel inside the nail.)
October 22, 2008
reesetee commented on the word styptic
Yep. Similar to what people do for pet birds.
October 22, 2008