dictionary help| phlegm | medical dictionary |
1. One of the four humors of which the ancients supposed the blood to be composed. See Humor.
2. <physiology> Viscid mucus secreted in abnormal quantity in the respiratory and digestive passages.
3. <chemistry> A watery distilled liquor, in distinction from a spirituous liquor.
4. Sluggishness of temperament; dullness; want of interest; indifference; coldness. "They judge with fury, but they write with phlegm." (Pope)
Origin: F. Phlegme, flegme, L. Phlegma, fr. Gr. A flame, inflammation, phlegm, a morbid, clammy humor in the body, fr. To burn. Cf. Phlox, Flagrant, Flame, Bleak, and Fluminate.
(01 Mar 1998)
Phlebotomus sergenti, Phlebotomus verrucarum, phlebotomy, phlebovirus < Prev | Next > phlegmagogue, phlegmasia, phlegmasia alba dolens
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