Laxatives treat constipation by softening hard stools or stimulating your bowels to get moving so you can poop.

Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools [1] and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and …

The meaning of LAXATIVE is having a tendency to loosen or relax; specifically : producing bowel movements and relieving constipation. How to use laxative in a sentence.

Mar 1, 2026 · laxative, any drug used in the treatment of constipation to promote the evacuation of feces. Laxatives produce their effect by several mechanisms. The four main types of laxatives …

A laxative is food or medicine that you take to make you go to the toilet. Foods that ferment quickly in the stomach are excellent natural laxatives.

LAXATIVE definition: a medicine or agent for relieving constipation. See examples of laxative used in a sentence.

/ ˈlæk·sə·t̬ɪv / Add to word list a substance that helps a person excrete the contents of the bowels (Definition of laxative from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)