consumptive

EnglishEdit

consumptive (comparative more consumptive, superlative most consumptive)

Having a tendency to consume; dissipating; destructive; wasteful.
- 1708, Joseph Addison, The Present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation
  a long consumptive war
Of, or relating to consumption.
(pathology) Relating to pulmonary tuberculosis.
consumptive cough
- a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The Latter Part of the Fourth Book of Lucretius; Concerning the Nature of Love”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, OCLC 863244003, page 457:
  The lean, conſumptive, wench, with coughs decay'd, / Is call'd a pretty, tight, and ſlender maid.

having a tendency to consume

of, or relating to consumption

relating to pulmonary tuberculosis

consumptive (plural consumptives)

A person suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.
- 2002, Michel Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White, Canongate Books (2010), page 426:
  The consumptive has managed to shake the servant from her side and walks alone, striving to make it look easy.

person with pulmonary tuberculosis