Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CON-STI-PA'TION, n.

1. The act of crowding any thing into a less compass; a pressing together; condensation; as, a close constipation of particles. – Bentley.
2. More generally, a crowding or filling to hardness the intestinal canal, from defective excretion; costiveness; obstipation. – Encyc. Coxe.