Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Excessive flow of saliva.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In medicine, salivation; a morbid and copious excretion of saliva.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Salivation, or an excessive flow of saliva.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun sialorrhea

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun excessive flow of saliva

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek ptualismos, salivation, from ptualizein, to salivate, from ptualon, saliva, from ptūein, to spit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek πτυαλισμός ("salivation").

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Examples

Comments

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  • If my dentist had used this word, it might not have been so awkward.

    November 22, 2007

  • "'Strong mercurial ointment on shoulder and back... and to induce ptyalism even more speedily, the patient received the smoke of cinnabar into the mouth.'"

    --Patrick O'Brian, The Truelove, 144

    All these freaky words in an attempt to treat rabies. Eugh.

    March 11, 2008

  • Not to mention all that healthful mercury.

    March 11, 2008

  • It was spit when I was in school

    Or spawl from the mouth of a fool.

    It's sheerest sciolism

    To call it ptyalism

    When all of us know it's just drool.

    September 29, 2015