Defensive vomiting is a symptom of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in which a person who has drastically over-eaten (generally in reaction to previous extreme dieting) vomits as a reaction to an excess of food which the body is not prepared to handle. It is often seen in children, shortly after holidays such as Halloween and Easter.
Defensive vomiting can also refer to a tactic used by some animals. Examples include the turkey vulture, which may vomit up foul-smelling semi-digested meat to ward off predators.
Famous quotes containing the word defensive:
“This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessèd plot, this earth, this realm, this England.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)