Definition of "benzodiazepine" [benzodiazepine]

• Any of a group of chemical compounds with a common molecular structure and similar pharmacological effects, used as antianxiety agents, muscle relaxants, sedatives, hypnotics, and sometimes as anticonvulsants. (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.

• "Valium, in this patient, we will appreciate how to want term benzodiazepine drugs feeding documents."
• "The most common sleep-aid drugs, called benzodiazepine receptor agonists, alter the activity of gamma-aminobutyric acid GABA, a neurotransmitter that is thought to facilitate sleep."
• "This is a drug called benzodiazepine.2 After a few weeks, he went back on the benzodiazepine, but now it was too late; it no longer stopped him from having attacks."