blue angel
- noun
- Archaic
:
blue angel
- A dose of blue angel was administered to the patient to help induce sleep.
Examples
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Abuse of blue angel can lead to serious side effects and dependency.
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Doctors rarely prescribe blue angel due to the availability of safer alternatives.
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The doctor prescribed blue angel for her anxiety.
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Some patients find blue angel very effective.
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A dose of blue angel was administered to the patient to help induce sleep.
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Abuse of blue angel can lead to serious side effects and dependency.
-
Doctors rarely prescribe blue angel due to the availability of safer alternatives.
Synonyms
49
9.9
An old sedative drug once used to help people sleep
4
9.9
A prescription medicine that makes a person sleep or feel calm under a doctor's care
1
9.8
A medicine that makes people sleep and helps control seizures
A drug used to calm people and help them sleep
A strong sleeping medicine that makes people sleep
Surface Forms
Morphology
blue + angel
Because 'blue' here is presented as a drug name (a sedative), a learner who knows that sense would likely infer that 'blue angel' refers to some kind of drug or sedative product. However, the exact technical meaning — a specific sodium salt of amobarbital used as a hypnotic — is a specialized, brand/chemical identifier that cannot be fully derived from the constituents (and 'angel' adds no transparent semantic detail). The combination is therefore only partially predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Blue angel may come from the pill's blue colour and the comforting idea of an angel helping someone sleep. That's why blue angel now refers to a sedative drug, a medicine 'to make someone sleep'.