exsufflation

exsufflation

English

Etymology

Compare Latin exsufflatio.

Noun

exsufflation (plural exsufflations)

1. (obsolete) A blast from beneath.
   • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], OCLC 1044372886:

     The next is when it will fly upwards over the helm by a kind of exsufflation without vapouring

2. (obsolete) A kind of exorcism by blowing with the breath.
   • 1655, Jeremy Taylor, Unum Necessarium

     the Ceremony of Exsufflation, for ejecting of the Devil

3. (biology, obsolete) A strongly forced expiration of air from the lungs.

Related terms

• insufflation

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for exsufflation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)