Meaning & use
tussive
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a nounmedical
Connected with coughing, or caused by a cough.
Grammar: Sits in front of the noun it describes: a tussive reflex, not 'the reflex is tussive'.
Patterns
- tussive something
The doctor noted a tussive pattern that grew worse at night.
Some medicines are designed to reduce the tussive reflex in patients with chronic bronchitis.
A tussive episode left her too breathless to finish the sentence.
Common combinations
- tussive reflex
- The tussive reflex protects the lungs from irritants.
- tussive syncope
- Tussive syncope is fainting that follows a violent coughing fit.
- tussive fit
- A tussive fit shook him as soon as he stepped into the cold air.
- tussive effort
- Each tussive effort left his chest aching.
Synonyms and how they differ
- coughing
- Coughing is the plain everyday adjective and noun, while tussive is a specialist term that sounds clinical.
- bechic
- Bechic is even rarer and means relieving a cough, whereas tussive simply relates to coughing.
- pertussal
- Pertussal refers specifically to whooping cough, while tussive covers coughing in general.
Word family
- tussis noun
- the medical Latin word for a cough
- antitussive adjective
- suppressing coughing, as in a cough medicine
- pertussis noun
- whooping cough
- expectorant noun
- a medicine that helps bring up mucus (related topic, not a derivation)
Commonly confused: tussive or tussle?
tussive vs tussle
A tussle is a rough scuffle or struggle, and has nothing to do with coughing despite the similar sound.
Practice
A pharmacist describes a syrup that calms the ____ reflex. Which word fits best in clinical language?
Choose one answer.
Tussive means relating to coughing, so tussive reflex is the right clinical phrase. Tonsillar relates to the tonsils and tactile to touch.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tussive”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.