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Definition of "painkiller" [pain•kil•ler]

  • An agent, such as an analgesic drug, that relieves pain. (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.

Use "painkiller" in a sentence
  • "•Clemens says: He's never wanted to put anything harmful in his body and was troubled when he heard Vioxx, a painkiller from the pharmaceutical company Merck, may lead to heart attacks and had been taken off the market in 2004."
  • "It's bizarre that the puritans out there are so concerned with "addiction" that they ignore the problems that really might come of long-term painkiller use."
  • "Doctors don't know, for example, whether regular mammograms for women in their forties save lives, and they ignore evidence that Celebrex, a widely prescribed and much ballyhooed prescription painkiller, is no more effective than ibuprofen, which costs one tenth as much."