barbiturate

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“
I think it would be quite poetic if in fact the technician did miss his vein-and an infusion of barbiturate, Pancuronium and Potassium Chloride accumulated in his soft tissues until, a LONG TIME LATER, he succumbed after experiencing great Physical Pain-though not a FRACTION of what he caused his victims.

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A salt or ester of barbituric acid.
  2. noun Any of a group of barbituric acid derivatives that act as central nervous system depressants and are used as sedatives or hypnotics.
  3. usage note
    When this class of drugs was introduced in the early part of this century, barbiturate had its main stress on the penultimate syllable, a pronunciation that is still used in the medical profession. As the word passed into the general vocabulary the stress shifted to the antepenultimate syllable, bringing the stress pattern more in line with words like acculturate, accurate, and saturate. Either pronunciation is considered correct now. Since at least the 1960s the pronunciation (bär-bĭchˈə-wĭt), without the second r, has been considered nonstandard despite the fact that it is quite common. In a recent survey 62 percent of the Usage Panel still disapprove of this pronunciation, while 38 percent approve of it, suggesting that the usage is becoming less stigmatized. One reason for this may be that the pronunciation without the second r is simply easier to say, since the combination (-ər-ĭt) occurs relatively infrequently in English. In addition, the presence of the first r may influence the dropping out of the second r by the phonological process of dissimilation.

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Examples (50)

  • More powerful than any barbiturate, and infinitely more imaginative in their effects He squirms in his chair Believe me, there are some amazing pharmaceutical products in that world. —  FSF - May2006
  • On another occasion, she claims her mother forced her to drink tea laced with barbiturate to make her feel drowsy and enable Calloway to make a move on her. —  British Blogs
  • So far nearly 1,000 people from across Europe and beyond have travelled there for the chance to give themselves a lethal dose of barbiturate. —  Medindia Health News
  • Instead, if we're going to do it at all, we should give prisoners a single overdose of barbiturate. —  Nashville Scene - Pith in the Wind
  • The method was widely used by Western intelligence agencies during the Cold War, before it emerged that the drugs used - typically the barbiturate sodium pentothal - may induce hallucinations, delusions and psychotic manifestations —  The Jawa Report
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