phlegm : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: phlegm	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for phlegm
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
phlegm n apathy demonstrated by an absence of emotional reactions Synonym(s): emotionlessness, impassivity, impassiveness, phlegm, indifference, stolidity, unemotionality expectorated matter; saliva mixed with discharges from the respiratory passages; in ancient and medieval physiology it was believed to cause sluggishness Synonym(s): phlegm, sputum inactivity; showing an unusual lack of energy; "the general appearance of sluggishness alarmed his friends" Synonym(s): languor, lethargy, sluggishness, phlegm, flatness
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Phlegm \Phlegm\, n. [F. phlegme, flegme, L. phlegma, fr. Gr. [?] a flame, inflammation, phlegm, a morbid, clammy humor in the body, fr. [?] to burn. Cf. {Phlox}, {Flagrant}, {Flame}, {Bleak}, a., and {Fluminate}.] 1. One of the four humors of which the ancients supposed the blood to be composed. See {Humor}. --Arbuthnot. 2. (Physiol.) Viscid mucus secreted in abnormal quantity in the respiratory and digestive passages. 3. (Old Chem.) A watery distilled liquor, in distinction from a spirituous liquor. --Crabb. 4. Sluggishness of temperament; dullness; want of interest; indifference; coldness. They judge with fury, but they write with phlegm. --Pope.