from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Cathartic \Ca*thar"tic\, n. [Gr. ?.] (Med.)
A medicine that promotes alvine discharges; a purge; a
purgative of moderate activity.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The cathartics are more energetic and certain in action
that the laxatives, which simply increase the tendency
to alvine evacuation; and less powerful and irritaint
that the drastic purges, which cause profuse, repeated,
and watery evacuations. -- {Ca*thar"tic*al*ly}, adv. --
{Ca*thar"tic*al*ness}, n.
[1913 Webster]