Constipate
adj, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To cause constipation in, render costive. ambitransitive
"The medication can constipate you if you’re not drinking enough water."
- 2 cause to be constipated wordnet
- 3 To constrict, contract (tissues, the body, fibres, etc.); to make firm and compact by pressing together. obsolete
- 4 impede with a clog or as if with a clog wordnet
- 5 To pack or crowd together. obsolete
- 1 Constipated, costive. obsolete
"By […] much Sweating, the Bowels were heated, and dry'd, and rendred Constipate."
Example
More examples"The medication can constipate you if you’re not drinking enough water."
Etymology
The adjective is first attested circa 1425, in Middle English, the verb in 1541; inherited from Middle English constipat(e) (“constipated”), borrowed Medieval Latin cōnstīpātus (“constipated”) (or through its Old French equivalent constipé), perfect passive participle of Medieval Latin cōnstīpō (“to cause constipation, to constipate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Classical Latin cōnstīpō (“to crowd or press tightly together”) (whence obsoleted sense 2 and 3), itself from con- + stīpō (“to press, cram”). Cognate with Middle English constipen (“to constipate”) and doublet of costive; related to stiff.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.