a. and sb. [a. F. astringent, ad. L. astringentem, pr. pple. of astringĕre: see ASTRINGE and -ENT.]

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  A.  adj.

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  1.  Having power to draw together or contract the soft organic tissues; binding, constrictive, styptic.

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1541.  R. Copland, Galyen’s Terap., 2 H j b. I cal austere … a lytell adstryngent.

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1620.  Venner, Via Recta, vii. 146. It is astringent, and therefore effectual to stop the laske.

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1855.  Bain, Senses & Int., II. ii. § 14. Astringent substances act on the skin and on the mucous membranes generally.

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  2.  fig. Severe, austere, stern.

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1820.  Byron, Juan, V. clvii. Their chastity … Is not a thing of that astringent quality, which in the North prevents precocious crimes.

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  † 3.  Constipated, costive. Obs. Cf. ASTRINGENCY 2.

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1662.  R. Mathew, Unl. Alch., § 76. 98. There are some such whom it hath purged most of all, which otherwise have been most astringent.

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  B.  sb. An astringent medicine or substance.

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1626.  Bacon, Sylva, § 66. Blood is stanched … by astringents.

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1830.  Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot., 195. The root of Statice caroliniana is one of the most powerful astringents.

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