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more about cathartic
cathartic |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Cathartic \Ca*thar"tic\, Catharical \Ca*thar"ic*al\, a. [Gr. ?, fr ? to cleanse, fr ? pure; akin to F. chaste.] 1. (Med.) Cleansing the bowels; promoting evacuations by stool; purgative. 2. Of or pertaining to the purgative principle of senna, as cathartic acid. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Cathartic \Ca*thar"tic\, n. [Gr. ?.] (Med.) A medicine that promotes alvine discharges; a purge; a purgative of moderate activity. Note: The cathartics are more energetic and certain in action that the laxatives, which simply increase the tendency to alvine evacuation; and less powerful and irritaint that the drastic purges, which cause profuse, repeated, and watery evacuations. -- {Ca*thar"tic*al*ly}, adv -- {Ca*thar"tic*al*ness}, n. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: cathartic adj 1: emotionally purging [syn: {psychotherapeutic}] 2: emotionally purging (of e.g. art) [syn: {releasing}] 3: strongly laxative [syn: {evacuant}, {purgative}] n : a purging medicine; stimulates evacuation of the bowels [syn: {purgative}, {laxative}, {physic}, {aperient}]
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