Definition of "ipecac" [ip•e•cac]

• A low-growing tropical American shrub (Cephaelis ipecacuanha) having roots and rhizomes that yield emetine. (noun)
• The dried roots and rhizomes of this shrub. (noun)
• A medicinal preparation made from the dried roots and rhizomes of this shrub that is used to induce vomiting, particularly in cases of poisoning and drug overdose. (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.

• "Made piles of money with Faith No More, used it to start his own record label ipecac and make weird stuff to his liking."
• "Of course, one reader's warm milk is another reader's ipecac, which is why the Bear Lake County (Idaho) Library's "squeaky clean book list" hedges: "depending somewhat on your definition of clean.""
• "_Cinchona_ supplies us with quinine, while _Ipecacuanha_ produces ipecac, which is an emetic and purgative."