Definition of "inotropic" [inotropic]

• Affecting the contraction of muscle, especially heart muscle: an inotropic drug. (adjective)

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.

• "These drugs, known as inotropic agents, make the heart beat harder."
• "We also reported on the effects of anaerobiosis and of a number of positive and negative inotropic agents."
• "We collaborated with my good friend William Sleator of the Physiology Department in the study of changes in cellular action potentials (measured with intracellular microelectrodes) associated with the changes in contractility of the guinea pig atrium in response to epinephrine and acetylcholine, and a number of other inotropic agents."