EXPECTORATE


Meaning of EXPECTORATE in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ -tə-ˌrāt ]

verb

( -rat·ed ; -rat·ing )

Etymology: Latin expectoratus, past participle of expectorare to banish from the mind (taken to mean literally “to expel from the chest”), from ex- + pector-, pectus breast, soul — more at pectoral

Date: 1601

transitive verb

1. : to eject from the throat or lungs by coughing or hawking and spitting

2. : spit

intransitive verb

1. : to discharge matter from the throat or lungs by coughing or hawking and spitting

2. : spit

• ex·pec·to·ra·tion -ˌspek-tə-ˈrā-shən noun

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.