rareˈfactive, a. and n.
[ad. L. type *rārēfactīvus, f. rārēfacere to rarefy. Cf. F. raréfactif (16th c.).]
A. adj. Having the quality of rarefying; characterized by rarefaction. (In recent use only Path. of diseases of bones.)
| 1656 [? J. Sergeant] tr. T. White's Peripat. Inst. v. xiv. 313 'Tis plain..that an Intelligence, by that one rarefactive Vertue, can operate whatever is to be done by Bodies. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. ii. 114 Hence it appears, that Ayr, besides its gravity, has a nobler rarefactive faculty. 1889 Lancet 6 Apr. 684/2 A rarefactive disease of the whole bone. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 551 The microscopic appearances are those of a rarefactive osteitis. |
† B. n. (See quot.) Obs. rare—0.
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Rarefactives,..in medicine, remedies which open and inlarge the pores of the skin. |