Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A bitter crystalline alkaloid, C17H19NO3·H2O, extracted from opium, the soluble salts of which are used in medicine as an analgesic, a light anesthetic, or a sedative.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An alkaloid, C17H19N03, the most important narcotic principle of opium.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) A bitter white crystalline alkaloid found in opium, possessing strong narcotic properties, and much used as an anodyne; -- called also morphia, and morphina.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A crystalline alkaloid (7,8-didehydro-4,5-epoxy-17-methyl-morphinan-3,6-diol), extracted from opium, the salts of which are soluble in water and are used as analgesics, anaesthetics and sedatives; it is one of a group of morphine alkaloids.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an alkaloid narcotic drug extracted from opium; a powerful, habit-forming narcotic used to relieve pain

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Morphée, Morpheus, from Latin Morpheus.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek Morpheus the god of dreams.

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Examples

  • What difference does it make when morphine is legal, when booze is legal?

    Prince of Pot Purloined to Prison « Colleen Anderson 2009

  • Roy is in a deep state of depression and starts to tell Alexandria an epic story in order to get her to do things for him, namely steal morphine from the hospital pharmacy.

    Ken's Review: The Fall - Much More Than Eye Candy « FirstShowing.net 2008

  • It's pretty obvious Gonzales was hoping that Ashcroft was swimming in morphine and ready to sign anything.

    Balkinization 2007

  • It's pretty obvious Gonzales was hoping that Ashcroft was swimming in morphine and ready to sign anything.

    Balkinization 2007

  • It's pretty obvious Gonzales was hoping that Ashcroft was swimming in morphine and ready to sign anything.

    Balkinization 2007

  • It's pretty obvious Gonzales was hoping that Ashcroft was swimming in morphine and ready to sign anything.

    Balkinization 2007

  • It's pretty obvious Gonzales was hoping that Ashcroft was swimming in morphine and ready to sign anything.

    Balkinization 2007

  • It's pretty obvious Gonzales was hoping that Ashcroft was swimming in morphine and ready to sign anything.

    Balkinization 2007

  • It's pretty obvious Gonzales was hoping that Ashcroft was swimming in morphine and ready to sign anything.

    Balkinization 2007

  • It's pretty obvious Gonzales was hoping that Ashcroft was swimming in morphine and ready to sign anything.

    Balkinization 2007

Comments

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  • Holmes used this in addition to cocaine.

    March 27, 2013