Dictionary entry

Defecate (2)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Def″e‐cate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p.Defecated; p. pr. & vb. n.Defecating.] 1. To clear from impurities, as lees, dregs, etc.; to clarify; to purify; to refine.

To defecate the dark and muddy oil of amber. Boyle.

2. To free from extraneous or polluting matter; to clear; to purify, as from that which materializes.

We defecate the notion from materiality. Glanvill.

Defecated from all the impurities of sense. Bp. Warburton.