Expectorated

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To forcefully expel mucus or phlegm from the lungs or throat through coughing
2. The action of removing material from the respiratory passages by coughing to clear them
3. Clearing the airways by coughing up and ejecting mucus or other substances from the respiratory system

Etymology: "Expectorated" is the past tense of "expectorate," and it is a good example of a word whose physical meaning has hardly changed in two thousand years. Its Latin source, "expectorare," combined "ex," meaning "out of," with "pectus," meaning "breast" or "chest," so the original sense was simply to drive something out of the chest. The verb was used in post-classical Latin in this bodily sense, and it also appeared figuratively in the older Latin sense of banishing something from the mind. The English word follows that same path: it describes forcefully clearing phlegm or mucus from the lungs or throat by coughing. The figurative Latin sense of banishing a thought has not carried over into everyday English use, so the word stays close to its anatomical roots.

Synonyms: spit, cough up, discharge