ecbole

This word should practically be my middle name. Although my middle name is Maria. A lot of the women on my mum's side of the family are called Maria in fact. But back to the word in hand:

ecbole n a digression (rhetoric); the raising or sharpening of a tone (music); adj ecbolic (med) inducing contractions of the uterus leading to childbirth or abortion - n a drug having this effect. [Origin from Greek ekbole throwing out, from ek out of, and ballein to throw] Chambers, 1998

It's pronounced "ek bowl ee", with the stress on the "ek". What a wonderful array of meanings. That reminds me, I met this well-meaning dog once who...