Pl. vomicæ (-isī), and vomicas. [L. vomica boil, ulcer, f. vomĕre to eject, vomit. Hence also It., Sp., Pg. vomica, F. vomique, in sense 2.]
1. † a. A vent or opening. Obs.–1
1572. J. Jones, Bathes of Bath, II. 15 b. It should followe, that where such hote bathes were, there should bee vomica and a chimney, out of whiche that flame should bee expelled.
b. A place at which water issues.
1838. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., I. 273/1. It is obvious that the conflux of the springs in the Beck, is greater than the unvarying quantity gauged at the vomica or source of each Spring.
2. Path. a. An ulcerous cavity or abscess in the substance of the lungs or (more rarely) some other internal organ.
1693. trans. Blancard’s Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Vomica, a fault in the Lungs, from Heterogeneous Blood.
1732. Arbuthnot, Rules of Diet, in Aliments, etc., I. 387. If the Ulcer is not broke it is commonly call’d a Vomica.
1775. T. Percival, Ess. (1776), III. 104. The lungs become inflamed, a cough ensues, tubercles or a vomica are formed.
1822–7. Good, Study Med. (1829), I. 639. Vomicas or indurated tumours of whatever kind in the substance of the lungs.
1879. St. George’s Hosp. Rep., IX. 156. A vomica in the middle lobe of the right lung.
1880. A. Flint, Princ. Med., 196. The ulcerative cavities, vomicæ, result from a softening of the tuberculous and inflammatory cheesy material and its removal through the bronchi.
b. A sudden and profuse expectoration of purulent or putrid matter.
1895–. in American dicts.
