Definition of "anesthesia" []

• Total or partial loss of sensation, especially tactile sensibility, induced by disease, injury, acupuncture, or an anesthetic, such as chloroform or nitrous oxide. (noun)
• Local or general insensibility to pain with or without the loss of consciousness, induced by an anesthetic. (noun)
• A drug, administered for medical or surgical purposes, that induces partial or total loss of sensation and may be topical, local, regional, or general, depending on the method of administration and area of the body affected. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The word "anesthesia" comes from a Greek word meaning absence or loss of sensation."
• "Regional anesthesia is the most popular form of anesthesia offered to women in labor."
• "While some standards, such as those in anesthesia, are clear and easily complied with, others, such as in obstetrical cases, are complicated and can be contradictory."