vital fluid
Coursing through veins
Vital fluid is an old term for any substance believed essential to life—blood, semen, or the mysterious life force itself.
The phrase belongs to an era when bodily fluids were thought to carry spiritual energy: He felt his vital fluid draining away.
Now used humorously or in historical contexts.
- ichorMythic deity essence
- elixirMythical healing draught
- plasmaElectrified matter state
- bloodBody's oxygen carrier
- sapPlant circulatory fluid
tree sap · ambrosia · mother's milk · lymph · humors · water · holy water · quintessence · nectar · chi · prana · breath of life · ether · potion · bile · saliva · sweat · groundwater
vital fluidpoison
Harmful ingested substance
venom · toxin · deadly poison · hemlock · lethal injection
vital fluidsewage
Liquid refuse in drains
stagnant water · brine · dead water · brackish water · industrial runoff
vital fluidcorruption
Dishonest abuse of power
putrescence · decay · embalming fluid · mortification · rigor mortis
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