laxative
/ˈlæk.sə.tɪv/
laxative adjective: having the effect of moving the bowels, or aiding digestion and preventing constipation.
Adjective
laxative (comparative more laxative, superlative most laxative)
- Having the effect of moving the bowels, or aiding digestion and preventing constipation.
- BOlvs in Engliſh is called a morſell. It is a medicine laxatiue, in forme & faſhion it is meanely whole, & it is ſwallowed by litle gobbets.1583, Philip Barrough [i.e., Philip Barrow], “Of Making Bolus”, in The Methode of Phisicke, Conteyning the Causes, Signes, and Cures of Inward Diseases in Mans Body from the Head to the Foote. […]...
Noun
laxative (plural laxatives)
- Any substance, such as a food or in the form of a medicine which has a laxative effect.
- According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, the US is having a love affair with laxatives; Americans of all ages are ingesting so much of the stuff that there are now shortages nationwide.2023 September 12, Arwa Mahdawi, “The US has such a love affair with laxatives that there is now a national shortage. This is not normal”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
laxative meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada
laxative in Hindi
- causing movement of the bowels
- विरेचक virecak
- substance with a laxative effect
- रेचक recak, विरेचक virecak
laxative in Tamil
- மலமிளக்கி, இளக்கி, குடலிளக்கு மருந்து, பேதி மருந்து
laxative in Malayalam
- purgative, evacuant, aperient
- ശോധനൗഷധം, മൃദുവിരേചനൗഷധം, വിരേചനി, വയറിളക്കമരുന്ന്, വിസ്രംസം, വിരേചനൗഷധം
laxative in Kannada
- ವಿರೇಚಕ, ಜುಲಾಬಿನ ಮದ್ದು, ಭೇದಿಯೌಷಧ, ಭೇದಿಯಾಗಿಸುವ, ಮಲವಿಸರ್ಜನೆ ಮಾಡಿಸುವ, ಹೊರಕಡೆಯಾಗಿಸುವ
More languagesFewer languages
- laxative in Sanskrit
- सारक sāraka
- laxative in Tagalog
- palambut-dumi
- laxative in Arabic
- مُلَيّن
- laxative in Malay
- julap, pelawas
- laxative in Thai
- ยาถ่าย yaa-tàai
- laxative in Vietnamese
- thuốc xổ, thuốc nhuận tràng
Forms of laxative
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more laxative |
| superlative | most laxative |
| Noun | |
| plural | laxatives |
Origin of laxative
From Middle French laxatif, from Latin laxātīvus (literally “relaxing, loosening”).
Words formed from laxative
Phrases with laxative
Questions about laxative
- What does laxative mean?
- Laxative means having the effect of moving the bowels, or aiding digestion and preventing constipation.
- What is laxative in Hindi?
- Laxative in Hindi is विरेचक (virecak), रेचक (recak). See Laxative meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is laxative?
- Laxative can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce laxative?
- Laxative is pronounced /ˈlæk.sə.tɪv/.
Words near laxative in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: laxative (page history and authors); laxative (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); laxative (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); laxative (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); सारक (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-laxative.wav.
Cite this entry: “laxative.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/laxative. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.