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Definition of "barbiturate" [barbiturate]

  • A salt or ester of barbituric acid. (noun)
  • Any of a group of barbituric acid derivatives that act as central nervous system depressants and are used as sedatives or hypnotics. (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 "barbiturate" in a sentence
  • "JONATHAN ARDEN, MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: The sequence of medications you described, first, is thiopental or sodium pentothal, which is an ultra-short-acting barbiturate which is supposed to sedate you, anesthetize you, knock you out."
  • "Pentobarbital is a barbiturate sold under the name Nembutal that Lundbeck markets as an epilepsy treatment."
  • "The drug at issue is thiopental sodium, a barbiturate used by states to render death-row inmates unconscious before other lethal drugs are used to complete an execution."