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To empty or unload, as the vessels of human system, by bloodletting or by medicine. Copland.

An agent which is adapted to produce a derivation (in the medical sense).

(Med.) A medicine or application for drying up a sore. Wiseman.

A substance which cleanses the skin, as water or soap; a medicine to cleanse wounds, ulcers, etc.

That part of medicine which has to do with ascertaining the nature of diseases by means of their symptoms or signs. His rare skill in diagnostics. Macaulay.

A medicine or agent which promotes perspiration.

An electuary compounded of four medicines.

ging to any system or province of knowledge, arranged alphabetically; as, a dictionary of medicine or of botany; a biographical dictionary.

To cause to eat and drink sparingly, or by prescribed rules; to regulate medicinally the food of. She diets him with fasting every day. Spenser.

That part of the medical or hygienic art which relates to diet or food; rules for diet. To suppose that the whole of dietetics lies in determining whether or not bread is more nutritive than potatoes. H. Spencer.

A medicine or an article of food that aids digestion, or strengthens digestive power. Rice is . . . a great restorer of health, and a great digester. Sir W. Temple.

That which aids digestion, as a food or medicine. Chaucer. That digestive [a cigar] had become to me as necessary as the meal itself. Blackw. Mag.

which are moderately warming, pungent, and aromatic, and were formerly used as a soothing medicine for children; -- called also dill-seed. Dr. Prior.

To be unsuited; to have unfitness; as, medicine sometimes disagrees with the patient; food often disagrees with the stomach or the taste.

A medicine that discusses or disperses morbid humors; a discutient.

An agent (as a medicinal application) which serves to disperse morbid matter. "Foment with discutiens." Wiseman.

Not yielding. Medicines used unnecessarily contribute to shorten life, by sooner rendering peculiar parts of the system disobedient to stimuli. E. Darwin.

A place where medicines are prepared and dispensed; esp., a place where the poor can obtain medical advice and medicines gratuitously or at a nominal price.

A book or medicinal formulary containing a systematic description of drugs, and of preparations made from them. It is usually, but not always, distinguished from a pharmacopoeia in that it issued by private parties, and not by an official body or by government.

ard dispenses provisions according directions; Nature dispenses her bounties; to dispense medicines. He is delighted to dispense a share of it to all the company. Sir W. Scott.