costiveness
(ˈkɒstɪvnɪs)
[f. as prec. + -ness.]
1. The state or condition of being costive; confinement of the bowels, constipation.
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xvii. 76 Men duse it [manna] in medecines..for costyfnes. 1528 Paynell Salerne's Regim. B iij, Hit..ofte tymes induceth stronge costiuenes. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xx. (1887) 84 Walking is good for..costifnesse. 1748 Anson Voy. i. x. 101 It produced an obstinate costiveness. 1866 A. Flint Princ. Med. (1880) 532 The terms constipation and costiveness are commonly used as synonyms..The latter is sometimes used to denote a less degree of insufficiency than the former. |
2. fig. The state or quality of being close or reserved: see costive 2. arch.
| 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 128 Such a costivenesse hath seised his Purse, nothing but a Tax..can loosen it. 1792 Wakefield Mem. 216 (T.) A reverend disputant of the same costiveness in publick elocution with myself. |