noun
phlegm
flehm
noun
1
Thick mucus produced in the throat or airways, especially when coughed up during a cold or infection.
"His cough was bringing up thick yellow phlegm."
"The doctor asked if she was coughing up any phlegm."
2
Calm, unemotional composure, sometimes bordering on indifference.
"He faced the crisis with the same phlegm he brought to everything else."
How to Use Phlegm
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe gunky mucus you cough up when you're sick — or, less commonly, a person's unshakeable calm.
When to use it
The "calm composure" sense is old-fashioned and mostly survives in the related word "phlegmatic."
Common pairings
cough up phlegm
phlegm in the throat
Word Forms
phlegms plural
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Etymology
From Old French fleume, ultimately from Greek phlegma ("inflammation" or "clammy bodily fluid"), from phlegein, "to burn." In ancient medicine phlegm was one of the four bodily humors, believed to make people calm or sluggish.