a. and sb. [ad. L. expectorant-em, pr. pple. of expectorāre: see next. Cf. Fr. expectorant.]
A. adj. That promotes expectoration.
1811. A. T. Thomson, Lond. Disp. (1818), 387. Storax is stimulant, and in some degree expectorant.
1884. Standard, 7 Jan., 2/6. He had prescribed an expectorant medicine for the woman, who suffered from bronchitis. She died 40 minutes after taking half the medicine.
B. sb. An expectorant medicine.
1782. E. Gray, in Med. Comm., I. 36. Expectorants seem to have been very seldom given.
1834. J. Forbes, Laennec’s Dis. Chest, 229. Expectorants, such as squills, and especially antimony.
1875. H. C. Wood, Therap. (1879), 522. Expectorants may be arranged under two heads; the nauseant or sedative expectorants, and the stimulating expectorants.
