expectorate

English

Etymology

From Latin expectorātus, past participle of expectorāre (“only fig. banish from the mind, but literally (as in modern use) expel from the breast”), from ex (“out of”) + pectus (“the breast”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪkˈspɛktəɹeɪt/

• Audio (US)

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Verb

expectorate (third-person singular simple present expectorates, present participle expectorating, simple past and past participle expectorated)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To cough up fluid from the lungs.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

2. (transitive, intransitive) To spit.

Related terms

• expectorant
• expectoration

Translations

See also

• sputum

Further reading

• “expectorate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “expectorate”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “expectorate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Spanish

Verb

expectorate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of expectorar combined with te