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Glite Dictionary
antiemetic drug

antiemetic drug

3.8
A drug that prevents or reduces nausea and vomiting
  • noun
  • /ˌæntiˈɛmɪtɪk drʌg/
  • Specialized
translation icon : medicamento antiemético
  • She took an antiemetic drug to avoid feeling sick during the long car ride.

Examples

  • Although most unwanted effects of antiemetic drugs are predictable and tolerable, the recent withdrawal of the butyrophenone droperidol from the UK market raises a number of issues related to choice in medicine.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Doctors prescribe antiemetic drugs to help patients manage nausea after surgery.

  • The nurse explained that antiemetic drugs can be very effective for preventing motion sickness.

Synonyms

ondansetron
vsantiemetic drug
  • Specialized
1 7.5

A medicine that prevents nausea and vomiting after surgery or cancer treatment

is more general, used to prevent nausea and vomiting in many situations
antiemetic
vsantiemetic drug
  • Specialized
1 7.5

A medicine that prevents or stops feeling sick and throwing up

is the same meaning but phrased with an added noun stressing a medical product
metoclopramide
vsantiemetic drug
  • Specialized
1 7.7

A medicine doctors give to stop feeling sick or vomiting and help digestion

focuses on preventing or relieving nausea and vomiting rather than treating stomach problems
Emetrol
vsantiemetic drug
1 8.7

A medicine you can buy without a prescription that helps stop nausea and vomiting

is the general group preventing nausea and vomiting rather than one trademarked product

Antonyms

emetic
  • Specialized
1 9.6

A substance that makes a person vomit

Surface Forms

antiemetic drug singular
antiemetic drugs plural

Morphology

antiemetic + drug

The phrase is fully compositional: 'antiemetic' (anti- "against" + emetic "causing vomiting") specifies the function and 'drug' labels it as a medicine. The meaning 'a medicine that prevents or relieves nausea and vomiting' follows directly from the constituents and has clear cross-linguistic equivalents, so a learner who knows both words would understand it.

Etymology

Antiemetic drug comes from anti- meaning 'against' and emetic from a word for 'vomit'. It gives the clear image of a medicine that fights or stops vomiting and feeling sick, so it means 'a drug that prevents or reduces nausea and vomiting'.