Definition of "barbital" []

• A barbiturate, C8H12N2O3, that is a white crystalline powder and is used as a sedative and hypnotic especially in the form of its soluble salt, sodium barbital. (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.

• "Bromine became the next big thing in 1857, followed by barbital, the first of the barbiturates."
• "We then added a subhypnotic dose of barbital and found that the combined action of this drug and nitrous oxide could be antagonized, and the increase in partial pressure of nitrous oxide needed to inhibit the righting reflex could be used as a measure of pentylenetetrazol action."
• "A woman, who had taken morphine and barbital, was found apparently dead after a night's exposure in some lonely spot."