sputum

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"It's meant to break up sputum, but kids under two can't spit it out, so the mucus can be aspirated into the lungs, causing pneumonia - yet it is still prescribed."

From BBC • Oct. 7, 2025

In this study, experts engineered a living material resembling natural sputum, or phlegm, from CF patients that can grow 3D polymicrobial biofilms in a controlled manner, resembling those found in the CF lung.

From Science Daily • Nov. 21, 2023

They’ve also helped health clinics in Africa diagnose people with tuberculosis, detecting the bacteria in the sputum samples of 25,000 patients.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 18, 2023

But were these tree bubbles — or tree sputum, as I came to call them — actually insect eggs?

From Washington Post • Feb. 20, 2023

Said tell him Mr. Blakeslee was having a bad chill and he’d coughed up some dark, rusty sputum.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns