COSTIVE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Costive

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adjective

Costive adj.

Retaining fecal matter in the bowels; having too slow a motion of the bowels; constipated.

Reserved; formal; close; cold. (Obs.) "A costive brain." "Costive of laughter." "You must be frank, but without indiscretion; and close, but without being costive."

Dry and hard; impermeable; unyielding. (Obs.) "Clay in dry seasons is costive, hardening with the sun and wind."

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Etymology of 'Costive'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Costive" Quotes from Famous Books

... like, we were bandying it about when Trimalchio return'd, and having wip'd the slops from his face, wash'd his hands, and in a very little time, "Pardon me, my friends," said he, "I have been costive for several days, and my physicians were to seek about it, when a suppository of pomegranate wine, with the liquor of a pine-tree and vinegar relieved me; and now I hope my belly may be ashamed if it keep no better ...

— The Satyricon • Petronius Arbiter

... dream for wicked Rhyme Where nothing but their Lodging is sublime. Observe their twenty faces, how they strain To void forth Nonsense from their costive Brain. Who (when they've murder'd so much costly time, Beat the vext Anvil with continual chime, And labour'd hard to hammer statutable Rhyme) Create a BRITISH PRINCE; as hard a task, As would a Cowley or a Milton ask, To build a Poem of the vastest price, A DAVIDEIS, or LOST ...

— Discourse on Criticism and of Poetry (1707) - From Poems On Several Occasions (1707) • Samuel Cobb

... the back between the scapula, accompanied by retching, or severe efforts to vomit. To relieve these attacks she has taken liberal doses of gin, in addition to her regular supply of beer. Now at the end of nine months, her milk has nearly ceased to flow, her bowels are costive, her stomach tolerates only small quantities of the simplest nourishment, her flesh and strength are very much reduced, her weight being only 96 pounds; and yet she thinks both the beer and gin make her feel better every time she takes them. Such is the delusive power of the ...

— Alcohol: A Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine, How and Why - What Medical Writers Say • Martha M. Allen

Words linked to "Costive" : laxative