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yellow bile
noun
: the one of the four humors (see humor entry 1 sense 2c) in ancient and medieval physiology that was believed to be hot and dry and to cause anger and irritability
… the humoral science of the ancient Greeks, which held that unevenness between the body's four humors—blood, phlegm, choler (yellow bile) and melancholy (black bile)—caused every kind of ailment.—Michael Snyder
Examples of yellow bile in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The way the seasons withered crops or provoked tree sap to flow might manifest in the body as yellow bile surging in the summer and cold, wet phlegm dripping in the winter.
—Meg Leja, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Nov. 2023
The way the seasons withered crops or provoked tree sap to flow might manifest in the body as yellow bile surging in the summer, and cold, wet phlegm dripping in the winter.
—Discover Magazine, 7 Nov. 2023
The theory contends that four fluids — blood, choler (yellow bile), phlegm and black bile — make up the body and must maintain balance for good health.
—Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 5 Apr. 2023
Hippocrates, the Greek physician who is sometimes called the father of medicine, wrote in the fifth century B.C.E. that the body has four humors—phlegm, yellow bile, black bile, and blood—which correspond to the hot, cold, wet, and dry weather of the Mediterranean.
—Lorraine Boissoneault, The New Yorker, 30 July 2022
What are some other possible causes of your dog throwing up yellow bile?
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 15 Oct. 2022
An excess of yellow bile, for instance, caused rheumatism; too much black bile caused cancer.
—Jack Feerick, Discover Magazine, 16 Dec. 2020
Medical ideas in the Middle Ages were based on four bodily humours: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile.
—Donna Sarkar, Discover Magazine, 12 Feb. 2021
There are a few gastrointestinal disorders that can cause your dog to throw up yellow bile.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 15 Oct. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'yellow bile.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1634, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Yellow bile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yellow%20bile. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
Medical Definition
yellow bile
noun
yel·low bile
ˈyel-ō-
: the one of the four humors (see humor sense 2) in ancient and medieval physiology that was believed to be hot and dry and to cause anger and irritability
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