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Webster 1913 Edition


Defecate

Def′e-cate

,
Adj.
[L.
defaecatus
, p. p. of
defaecare
to defecate;
de-
+
faex
,
faecis
, dregs, lees.]
Freed from anything that can pollute, as dregs, lees, etc.; refined; purified.
Till the soul be
defecate
from the dregs of sense.
Bates.

Def′e-cate

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Defecated
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Defecating
.]
1.
To clear from impurities, as lees, dregs, etc.; to clarify; to purify; to refine.
To
defecate
the dark and muddy oil of amber.
Boyle.
2.
To free from extraneous or polluting matter; to clear; to purify, as from that which materializes.
We
defecate
the notion from materiality.
Glanvill.
Defecated
from all the impurities of sense.
Bp. Warburton.

Def′e-cate

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To become clear, pure, or free.
Goldsmith.
2.
To void excrement.

Webster 1828 Edition


Defecate

DEFECATE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. Dregs.]
1.
To purify; to refine; to clear from dregs or impurities; to clarify; as, to defecate liquor.
2.
To purify from admixture; to clear; to purge of extraneous matter.

Definition 2024


defecate

defecate

English

Alternative forms

Verb

defecate (third-person singular simple present defecates, present participle defecating, simple past and past participle defecated)

  1. (intransitive) To expel feces from one's bowels.
  2. (now rare) To purify, to clean of dregs etc.
    • Boyle
      to defecate the dark and muddy oil of amber
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York 2001, p.224:
      Some are of opinion that such fat, standing waters make the best beer, and that seething doth defecate it […].
  3. (now rare, transitive) To purge; to pass (something) as excrement.

Synonyms

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

defecate (comparative more defecate, superlative most defecate)

  1. (obsolete) Freed from pollutants, dregs, lees, etc.; refined; purified.
    • Bates
      Till the soul be defecate from the dregs of sense.

Italian

Verb

defecate

  1. second-person plural present tense and imperative of defecare.

Latin

Verb

dēfecāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēfecō