a. and sb. [ad. L. excitant-em, pr. pple. of excitāre: see EXCITE. Cf. Fr. excitant.]

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  A.  adj. That rouses, excites or stimulates; exciting, stimulating. Cf. EXCITE, senses 1, 4, 6.

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1607.  R. Crackenthorp, Serm. (1608), 11. Gods grace, in our conversion, is not onely an excitant but a viuificant grace.

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1661.  Bp. Nicholson, Exp. Catech. (1678), 60. The Donation of Heavenly Grace … excitant, adjuvant, or co-operant.

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1773.  Nooth, in Phil. Trans., LXIII. 337. Cushions … covered with silk…, are much more powerfully excitant.

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1801.  Med. Jrnl., V. 471. The excitant powers of the fixed alkali were not at all, or very little known.

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1860.  Mayne, Exp. Lex., Excitant, raising up; exciting; provoking; stimulating.

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  B.  sb. An agent that excites (organs or tissues) to increased vital activity; a stimulant. Also, an agent for inducing electrical action.

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1833.  Coleridge, Table-t., 2 Sept. The English affect stimulant nourishment—beef and beer. The French excitants … alcohol, champagne.

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1836.  Blackw. Mag., XXXIX. 309/1. Salts are the excitants of the growth of plants.

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1875.  Bedford, Sailor’s Pocket-bk., viii. (ed. 2), 300. A warm bath … should only be employed as a momentary excitant.

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1885.  Pall Mall Gaz., 11 Feb., 4/2. A weak solution of potash as the excitant.

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