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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[F.

gargarisme

, L.

gargarisma

. See

(Med.)

A gargle.

Noun.

[L. gargarismus; Gr. to wash the mouth; allied probably to gorge, the throat.]

A gargle; any liquid preparation used to wash the mouth and throat, to cure inflammations or ulcers, &c.

gargarism ‎(plural gargarisms)

(obsolete) Something used to gargle with; a gargle.
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.4.2.iii:
  Such as are not swallowed, but only kept in the mouth, are gargarisms used commonly after a purge, when the body is soluble and loose.