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Glite Dictionary
Seidlitz powders

Seidlitz powders

9.9
A powder that fizzes in water and makes you need to go to the toilet
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : polvos de Seidlitz
  • She mixed the Seidlitz powders with water, watching them fizz before drinking.

Examples

  • The doctor prescribed Seidlitz powders as a gentle laxative for his patient.

  • I took Seidlitz powders to relieve my constipation.

  • In Victorian times, Seidlitz powders were a popular remedy for digestive complaints.

  • Have you ever tried Seidlitz powders for digestion?

  • In Victorian times, Seidlitz powders were a popular remedy for digestive complaints.

  • The doctor prescribed Seidlitz powders as a gentle laxative for his patient.

  • She mixed the Seidlitz powders with water, watching them fizz before drinking.

Synonyms

Seidlitz powder
vsSeidlitz powders
  • Archaic
9.9

A powder used long ago to relieve constipation and upset stomachs

is the plural form referring to multiple doses or packets
Rochelle powder
vsSeidlitz powders
  • Archaic
8.2

A powder used to help you go to the toilet when you are constipated

is regarded as a former remedy no longer commonly used
Glauber's salts
vsSeidlitz powders
  • Specialized
8.6

A white salt doctors use to make you go to the toilet and factories use to make chemicals

is a mixed effervescent powder of several salts rather than one pure chemical
magnesium hydroxide
vsSeidlitz powders
  • Specialized
3.9

A white powder used to stop heartburn and relieve constipation

is intended mainly to produce bowel movement using effervescence and salts

Surface Forms

Seidlitz powders plural
Seidlitz powder singular

Morphology

Seidlitz + powder

This is an eponymic/trade-name term: 'Seidlitz' is a proper name (not semantically transparent) and knowing 'powder' only indicates a powdered form. The specific medicinal meaning, composition, and historical use are not derivable from the constituents, so a B1 learner who only knows the words would not be able to infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Seidlitz powders may be named after a spa town called Seidlitz and refers to small packets of powder that fizz when mixed with water. People drank the bubbly drink as a mild medicine to ease their digestion, so the name came to mean that kind of 'laxative'.