digestive Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any substance that promotes digestion
  2. adjective relating to or having the power to cause or promote digestion
    • digestive juices
    • a digestive enzyme
    • digestive ferment

WordNet

Di*gest"ive adjective
Etymology
F. digestif, L. digestivus.
Definitions
  1. Pertaining to digestion; having the power to cause or promote digestion; as, the digestive ferments.
    Digestive cheese and fruit there sure will be. B. Jonson.
Di*gest"ive noun
Definitions
  1. That which aids digestion, as a food or medicine. Chaucer.
    That digestive [a cigar] had become to me as necessary as the meal itself. Blackw. Mag.
  2. (Med.) (a) A substance which, when applied to a wound or ulcer, promotes suppuration. Dunglison. (b) A tonic. R.

Webster 1913