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Glite Dictionary
anticholinergic drug

anticholinergic drug

7.2
A drug that blocks a nerve chemical called acetylcholine in the nervous system
  • noun
  • /ˌæntiˌkoʊlɪˈnɜrdʒɪk drʌg/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fármaco anticolinérgico
  • Doctors often caution against the long-term use of anticholinergic drugs due to potential side effects.

Examples

  • Thus, the use of anticholinergic drugs is a promising treatment for patients not responding to ICS.

    Academic text (2017)

  • Anticholinergic drugs are commonly prescribed to help manage asthma by relaxing the airways.

  • Many patients with gastrointestinal disorders rely on anticholinergic drugs to relieve their symptoms.

Synonyms

anticholinergic
vsanticholinergic drug
  • Specialized
1 9.5

A drug that blocks the nerve chemical acetylcholine

is a medical treatment that blocks it to treat specific health problems

Antonyms

cholinergic
  • Specialized
1 9.2

Related to nerve cells that use the chemical acetylcholine to send messages

Surface Forms

anticholinergic drug singular
anticholinergic drugs plural

Morphology

anticholinergic + drug

This is a simple adjective + noun combination: knowing 'anticholinergic' (inhibits acetylcholine activity) and 'drug' (a medicine) lets a learner infer it means 'a drug that blocks or inhibits acetylcholine.' The meaning is fully compositional and follows common medical/lexical compounding patterns found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should understand it.

Etymology

Anticholinergic drug comes from anti- meaning 'against' and cholinergic meaning linked to the chemical 'acetylcholine', which carries messages in the body. So an anticholinergic drug is a medicine that works 'against' that chemical and 'blocks' some body messages, which is why it can cause effects like dry mouth.