ejaculation

From French éjaculation.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /iˌdʒækjuˈleɪʃən/

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• Rhymes: -eɪʃən
• Hyphenation: eja‧cu‧la‧tion

ejaculation (countable and uncountable, plural ejaculations)

1. The act of throwing or darting out with a sudden force and rapid flight.
   • 1974, D. R. Oldroyd, “Some Neo-Platonic and Stoic Influences on Mineralogy in the 16th and 17th Centuries”, in Allen G. Debus, editor, Alchemy and Early Modern Chemistry: Papers from Ambix, [London]: Jeremy Mills Publishing for The Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry, published 2004, →ISBN, page 238:

     Thus far, we have given a general account of [Nicolas le Fèvre]'s theory. Further elaboration is to be found in his account of the generation of metals. Here it is suggested that it is light "which by its ejaculation and irradiation did imprint and stamp the Idea and Character of its vertue in water as in a general and convenient Matrix, to enable her afterwards to supply both matter and Form, Body and Spirit, Salt, Sulphur and Mercury, [and] all physical generations...".

2. The uttering of a short, sudden exclamation or prayer, or the exclamation or prayer uttered.
   • 1807 April, Francis Jeffrey, “A Portraiture of Quakerism, as Taken from a View of the Moral Education, Discipline, Peculiar Customs, Religious Principles, Political and Civil Economy, and Character, of the Society of Friends. By Thomas Clarkson, M.A. Author of several Essays on the subject of the Slave Trade. 8vo. 3 vols. London: 1806 [book review]”, in Contributions to the Edinburgh Review. [...] In Three Volumes, volume III, 2nd edition, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, published 1846, OCLC 10659945, pages 385–386:

     They say no graces; but when their meal is on the table, they sit silent and in a thoughtful posture for a short time, waiting for an illapſe of the Spirit. If they are not moved to make any ejaculation, they begin to eat without more ado.

   • 1826, William Child Green, The Woodland Family, or The Sons of Error and Daughters of Simplicity, A Domestic Tale, London: J. M'Gowan and Sons, OCLC 80585802, page 556:

     [T]hey entered, and drove slowly towards the village; leaving her with hands clasped and uplifted, as in the act of reiterating her fervent ejaculation for their happiness. Nor was her ejaculation wholly breathed in vain: of their felicity, however, suffice it to record, that blessed with a numerous progeny, Emily found herself completely embosomed in domestic bliss: […]

   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:

     She gaped at us dumbly for perhaps five seconds, then uttered an ejaculation, far from suitable to mixed company, which she had no doubt picked up from fellow-Nimrods in her hunting days.

3. (biology) The act of ejecting or suddenly throwing, as a fluid from a duct or other body structure.
   • 1837, Michael Ryan, The Philosophy of Marriage, in Its Social, Moral, and Physical Relations; with an Account of the Diseases of the Genito-urinary Organs which Impair or Destroy the Reproductive Function; and Induce a Variety of Complaints; with the Physiology of Generation in the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms [...], London: John Churchill, Princes' Street, Soho, OCLC 243495533, page 210:

     Dehiscence, or Ejaculation of Pollen or Seed.— The pollen of plants is the fecundating power, and consists of a number of small sacs, invisible to the naked eye, in which a fluid exists, which is analogous to the spermatic fluid in man and animals.

   • 1910 June 20, Gilman A. Drew, “Sexual Activities of the Squid, Loligo pealii (Les.). I. Copulation, Egg-laying and Fertilization”, in Journal of Morphology, volume 22, number 2, Philadelphia, Pa.: Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, published 1911, page 334:

     The spermatophores begin to ejaculate immediately after leaving the penis and the whole process is completed in a very few seconds. Pulling the filament attached to the ejaculatory end of a spermatophore is all that is needed to start its ejaculation.

   1. (specifically) A reflex in human beings and other mammals in response to sexual stimulation involving the forcible ejection from the urethra of, in males, semen; and, in females, vaginal fluid.
      • 1837, Michael Ryan, The Philosophy of Marriage, in Its Social, Moral, and Physical Relations; with an Account of the Diseases of the Genito-urinary Organs which Impair or Destroy the Reproductive Function; and Induce a Variety of Complaints; with the Physiology of Generation in the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms [...], London: John Churchill, Princes' Street, Soho, OCLC 243495533, page 191:

        The moment of ejaculation in mammiferous animals is accompanied by universal excitement of the whole body, a kind of slight convulsion, which terminates in a comatose or exstatic state.

      • 1995, Louis Diamant; Richard D. McAnulty, editors, The Psychology of Sexual Orientation, Behavior, and Identity: A Handbook, Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 190:

        By repeating this process several times before ejaculation and by practicing this procedure, the man will learn to control his ejaculation.

      • 2001, Peter [Maxwell] Cryle, “Producing the Voice in Erotic Narrative”, in Brian Nelson; Anne Freadman; Philip Anderson, editors, Telling Performances: Essays on Gender, Narrative, and Performance, Newark, Del.: University of Delaware Press, →ISBN, page 117:

        In all my life I had never seen a woman discharge like that. Not only did she shoot out fuck like a man, but she accompanied her ejaculation with such furious cries, such energetic blasphemy, and such violent spasms, that one would have thought she was having an epileptic fit […] [Translation of the Marquis de Sade's Histoire de Juliette, IX:428.]

      • 2006, Sandra R. Leiblum, editor, Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy, 4th edition, New York, N.Y.: Guilford Press, →ISBN, page 241:

        One of the most challenging of male sexual disorders is that of delayed ejaculation (DE). The man who cannot readily ejaculate either alone or, most typically, with a partner, feels thwarted, anxious, and sexually incompetent.

      • 2014, Lisa Jean Moore, “Ejaculation (Male)”, in Michael Kimmel; Christine Milrod; Amanda Kennedy, editors, Cultural Encyclopedia of the Penis, Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 55:

        Biologically described as the release of seminal fluid from the penis during the male sexual response cycle, male ejaculation is entangled with cultural beliefs about male sexual prowess and masculine authenticity. […] Due to the sexual, cultural, and personal significance of ejaculation, men and boys are vulnerable to prevalent messages about the timing, size, and frequency of their ejaculation. Ejaculation can be a visual representation of the measure of the man.

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