- an interjectory word or expression, frequently profane; an exclamatory oath.
- a syllable, word, or phrase serving to fill out.
- a word considered as regularly filling the syntactic position of another, as it in It is his duty to go, or there in There is nothing here.
- added merely to fill out a sentence or line, give emphasis, etc.: Expletive remarks padded the speech.
- an exclamation or swearword; an oath or a sound expressing an emotional reaction rather than any particular meaning
- any syllable, word, or phrase conveying no independent meaning, esp one inserted in a line of verse for the sake of the metre
- expressing no particular meaning, esp when filling out a line of verse
