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Tuesday March 13, 2012

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astringent \uh-STRIN-juhnt\ , adjective:

1. Sharply incisive; pungent.

2. Medicine/Medical. Contracting; constrictive; styptic.

3. Harshly biting; caustic: his astringent criticism.

4. Stern or severe; austere.

noun:

1. Medicine/Medical. A substance that contracts the tissues or canals of the body, thereby diminishing discharges, as of mucus or blood.

2. A cosmetic that cleans the skin and constricts the pores.

One endeavors to correct, flushing out error and misconception with the astringent power of historical detail; the other treats the myth as meaningful cultural phenomenon in its own right, accounting for its emergence and tracing its development across time.
-- Beth Newman, Emily Brontė, "Introduction," Wuthering Heights

But here too she was thinner, and going unripe, astringent.
-- D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover

Related to the words strain and string, astringent comes from the Latin root stringere which meant "to draw tight."

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for astringent


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