deobstructive

English

Etymology

de- +‎ obstructive

Adjective

deobstructive (comparative more deobstructive, superlative most deobstructive)

1. Having the effect of deobstructing (clearing a passage, etc. of obstructions).
   • 1672, Edmund Borlase, Latham Spaw in Lancashire with Some Remarkable Cases and Cures Effected by It‎^[1], London: Robert Clavel, page 27:

     In the weaker and finest bodies Manna may be sufficient, […] or my Deobstructive powder, which I have observed hath done singularly well.

   • 1860, uncredited translator, The Epigrams of Martial, London: Henry G. Bohn, Epigram 47, p. 153,^[2]

     There coleworts might you see of noblest shoot;

     There might admire each lettuce, leek, and root;

     But, above all, the deobstructive beet;

   • 1916 September, William Ewart, “Deseases of the Thorax and its Viscera”, in Progressive Medicine, volume 3, page 94:

     […] to regulate the bowel, by diet and mechanical methods (including, if necessary, deobstructive surgery);

Noun

deobstructive (plural deobstructives)

1. Something that has the effect of deobstructing.
   • 1885, Samuel M. Bemiss, “Malarial Fevers”, in William Pepper, editor, A System of Practical Medicine‎^[3], Philadelphia: Lea Brothers, Volume 1, Chapter , p. 613:

     […] by setting up currents through the kidneys […] it [turpentine] has acted as a renal deobstructive.