Crossword clues for costive
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Costive \Cos"tive\ (k?s"t?v), a. [OF. costev['e], p. p. of costever, F. constiper, L. constipare to press closely together, to cram; con- + stipare to press together, cram. See Stipulate, Stiff, and cf. Constipate.]
Retaining fecal matter in the bowels; having too slow a motion of the bowels; constipated.
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Reserved; formal; close; cold. [Obs.] ``A costive brain.''
--Prior. ``Costive of laughter.''
--B. Jonson.You must be frank, but without indiscretion; and close, but without being costive.
--Lord Chesterfield. -
Dry and hard; impermeable; unyielding. [Obs.]
Clay in dry seasons is costive, hardening with the sun and wind.
--Mortimer.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1400, from Middle French costivé, from Latin constipatus, past participle of constipare (see constipation).
Wiktionary
a. 1 constipated 2 miserly, parsimonious
WordNet
adj. retarding evacuation of feces [ant: laxative]
Usage examples of "costive".
Asthma when derangements of the stomach are present, white coated tongue, costive bowels, sluggish liver.
I could only guess a part from your letter to Barnabas, and that costive scrawl with which you honored me.
In Toronto, it appears, one may leer desirously at under-dressed girls, or gape at them with the costive expression of one who considers Nudity and Art to be synonymous terms, but one must not laugh.
Anxiety, hypochondria, displacency, melancholia, costive, delicate stomachs - the ills of the city merchant increased tenfold.
There was that typical costive, haemorrhoidal facies, the knock-knees, the drooping shoulders, the flat feet splayed out, the ill breath, the large staring eyes, the meek complacency.