|
(), Cathar"ical ()} 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. Cathar"tic n.[Gr. .] (Med.) A medicine that promotes alvine discharges; a purge; a purgative of moderate activity. 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. -- Cathar"tically, adv. -- Cathar"ticalness, n. スポンサード リンク
|