HOW TO PRONOUNCE
phlegm
/flɛm/
Press play to hear how to pronounce phlegm.
American Pronunciation Guide · 0:41
Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗
What does phlegm mean?
noun
- Viscid mucus produced by the body, later especially mucus expelled from the bronchial passages by coughing.
- Calmness of temperament, composure; also seen negatively, sluggishness, indifference.
More meanings (2)
noun
- (historical) One of the four humors making up the body in ancient and mediaeval medicine; said to be cold and moist, and often identified with mucus.
- (historical) A watery distillation, especially one obtained from plant matter; an aqueous solution.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/flɛm/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
He had an emetic in the morning, which produced a large quantity of phlegm, but the cough is no better.
A cough is an effort of Nature to bring up the phlegm, which would otherwise accumulate, and in the end cause death.
More book examples (3)
These two classes are the plagues of every city in which they are generated, being what phlegm and bile are to the body.
It is indubitable that the most “temperamental” of the criminalists are the best, for phlegm and melancholy do not carry one through an examination.
In the convalescence, the lungs were affected, he coughed, and in expectoration raised great quantities of phlegm, and really resembled a phthisical patient.