exsiccant

adj, noun — 2 senses

adj

Etymology From Latin exsiccans, present participle of exsiccare. See exsiccate.

Having the quality of drying up; causing a drying up.

noun

Etymology From Latin exsiccans, present participle of exsiccare. See exsiccate.

A medicine that causes drying up.

Dried alum is used solely as an exsiccant and mild caustic1894, Arthur Albert Stevens, A Manual of Therapeutics:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.