Main Entry: ex·pec·to·rate

Pronunciation: \-tə-ˌrāt\

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): ex·pec·to·rat·ed; ex·pec·to·rat·ing

Etymology: Latin expectoratus, past participle of expectorare to banish from the mind (taken to mean literally “to expel from the chest”), from ex- + pector-, pectus breast, soul — more at PECTORAL

Date: 1601

transitive verb  

1 : to eject from the throat or lungs by coughing or hawking and spitting
2 : SPIT

intransitive verb  

1 : to discharge matter from the throat or lungs by coughing or hawking and spitting
2 : SPIT

— ex·pec·to·ra·tion  \-ˌspek-tə-ˈrā-shən\ noun