flatulence
(ˈflætjʊləns)
[a. F. flatulence, f. flatulent: see flatulent and -ence.]
1. gen. The condition of being charged with gas.
| a 1816 Sheridan Sch. Scand. iii. iii. Wks. 1821 I. 77 The Spa water..has all the pertness and flatulence of Champaigne, without the spirit or flavour. |
2. esp. The state or condition of having the stomach or other portion of the alimentary canal charged with gas.
| 1858 Copland Dict. Pract. Med. I. 1044 When flatulence precedes or attends organic lesions of the stomach. |
b. The tendency in various kinds of food to produce this state.
3. fig. Inflated or puffed-up condition, windiness, vanity; pomposity, pretentiousness.
| 1711 tr. S. Werenfels' Dis. Logomachys 229 Remember to distinguish between true Sublimity of Mind and Stile, and a vain flatulence of both. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 75 ¶10 Covert insults which serve to give vent to the flatulence of pride. |