tincture of iodine
1
4.6
- noun
- /ˈtɪŋk.tʃər əv aɪˈoʊ.din/
- Specialized
:
tintura de yodo
- You should use a tincture of iodine for minor wounds.
Examples
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The nurse applied a tincture of iodine to clean the wound before the stitches were placed.
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The doctor applied a tincture of iodine to the cut.
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A bottle of tincture of iodine was always kept in our family’s first-aid kit.
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Doctors used tincture of iodine to disinfect wounds in the early twentieth century.
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The nurse cleaned the cut with tincture of iodine before covering it with a bandage.
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For minor cuts and scrapes, it is advisable to use a tincture of iodine as a disinfectant.
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He always kept a bottle of tincture of iodine in his first aid kit for emergencies.
Synonyms
3
3.9
A dark brown liquid used on cuts to kill germs
3
8.1
A medicine made by dissolving a plant or drug in alcohol
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase denotes an alcoholic preparation ('tincture') made from iodine; combining 'tincture' (an alcoholic preparation) + 'of' + 'iodine' yields the expected sense of iodine dissolved in alcohol for topical use. The compositional 'tincture of X' pattern is literal and cross-linguistically common, so a learner who knows the constituent words can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Tincture of iodine comes from the old word tincture meaning 'to dye' or 'to color', because iodine solution leaves a brown stain on the skin. People used this brown liquid to clean cuts, so the name came to mean the antiseptic 'used on wounds'.