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barbiturate

barbiturate

12 9.0
A drug that makes you sleep or feel very calm and can cause death if you take too much
  • noun
  • /bɑːrˈbɪtʃʊrət/
  • Specialized
translation icon : barbitúrico
  • At the therapist's request, a psychiatrist injected the woman with the powerful barbiturate sodium Amytal.
  • barbiturate intoxication
  • barbiturates, tranquilizers
  • drugs such as barbiturates

Examples

  • We use high doses of sodium amytal and other barbiturates to help you sleep for 18 to 20 hours a day for several days.

  • The coroner found evidence she used barbiturates.

  • In your opinion then, the mixture of the barbiturate and alcohol was a fatal dose.

  • Murphy, a patient's admitted with a massive barbiturate overdose.

  • Typically, the animals act as though under the influence of a moderate dosage of barbiturates.

    Academic text (1996)
  • At 5:00 A.M., after several injections of barbiturates, Aunt Rose slept.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The dose of barbiturate is titrated to the development of a burst-suppression pattern on the electroencephalogram.

    Academic text (1995)
  • She was confined to a wheelchair, yet the autopsy has revealed that she died of a massive overdose of barbiturates, drugs that she herself was unable to obtain.

  • Beside him, Stevie carelessly popped a couple of barbiturates and zoned out.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • The doctor warned him that taking too many barbiturates could result in a fatal overdose.

Antonyms

stimulant
  • Specialized
27 4.9

A drug that makes the body and mind more active for a short time

How Sedating

anesthetic
  • Specialized
43 4.9
barbiturate
  • Specialized
12 9.0
depressant
  • Specialized
6 5.5
sedative
  • Specialized
76 5.4

Surface Forms

barbiturate singular
barbiturates plural

Morphology

barbiturate = barbituric (opaque) = barbitur + ate

The stem 'barbitur-' is a specialized chemical combining form unfamiliar to general learners, so the noun meaning cannot be derived from known everyday roots.

Etymology

Barbiturate comes from the chemical name barbituric acid, the substance these drugs were first made from. So a barbiturate is a drug made from that chemical that calms people or helps them sleep, and that is why the same name is used for this group of medicines.