English-Thai Dictionary
costive
ADJ ชักช้า รีๆ รอๆ hesitant chak-cha
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
COSTIVE
a.[L, to cram, to stuff. ] 1. Literally, crowded, stuffed, as the intestines; hence, bound in body; retaining fecal matter in the bowels, in a hard and dry state; having the excrements obstructed, or the motion of the bowels too slow.
2. Dry and hard; as costive clay. [Not used. ]
COSTIVENESS
n.A preternatural detention of the fecal matter of the bowels, with hardness and dryness; an obstruction or preternatural slowness of evacuations from the bowels.
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
COSTIVE
Cos "tive (ks "tv ), a. Etym: [OF. costev, 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. ]
1. Retaining fecal matter in the bowels; having too slow a motion of the bowels; constipated.
2. 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.
3. Dry and hard; impermeable; unyielding. [Obs. ] Clay in dry seasons is costive, hardening with the sun and wind. Mortimer.
COSTIVELY
COSTIVELY Cos "tive *ly, adv.
Defn: In a costive manner.
COSTIVENESS
COSTIVENESS Cos "tive *ness, n.
1. An unnatural retention of the fecal matter of the bowels; constipation.
2. Inability to express one's self; stiffness. [Obs. ] A reverend disputant of the same costiveness in public elocution with myself. Wakefield.
New American Oxford Dictionary
costive
cos tive |ˈkästiv, ˈkôstiv ˈkɑstɪv | ▶adjective constipated. • slow or reluctant in speech or action; unforthcoming: if he did ask her she would become costive. DERIVATIVES cos tive ly adverb, cos tive ness noun ORIGIN late Middle English: via Old French from Latin constipatus ‘pressed together ’ (see constipated ).
Oxford Dictionary
costive
costive |ˈkɒstɪv | ▶adjective 1 constipated. 2 slow or reluctant in speech or action; unforthcoming: if he did ask her she would become costive. DERIVATIVES costively adverb, costiveness noun ORIGIN late Middle English: via Old French from Latin constipatus ‘pressed together ’ (see constipated ).
The Wordsmith Dictionary