paregoric
Americannoun
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a camphorated tincture of opium, containing benzoic acid, anise oil, etc., used chiefly to stop diarrhea in children.
-
any soothing medicine; anodyne.
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of paregoric
1675–85; < Late Latin parēgoricus < Greek parēgorikós soothing, equivalent to parḗgor ( os ) pertaining to consolatory speech (equivalent to par- par- + -ēgor-, combining form of agorā́ agora 1 + -os adj. suffix) + -ikos -ic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Diarrhea, I told our friend the doctor, who didn’t give me paregoric, prescribed tea and apple.
From The New Yorker • Jul. 28, 2016
As the note struck, an expression of paregoric bliss passed over his infant features.
From Time Magazine Archive
Typical is the young graduate who in 1932 arrived in Fayetteville, Tenn. with bottles of paregoric and liniment, a roll of gauze, pair of scissors, $1 cash, a diploma.
From Time Magazine Archive
Epsom salts, cold pills, a bottle of paregoric, ink eradicator, adhesive-tape remover, vitamin pills.
From Time Magazine Archive
She opened the top bureau drawer and examined the bottles which constituted the medicine chest of the house— paregoric, Pain Killer, Lydia Pinkham, iron wine tonic, Hall’s Cream Salve, Epsom salts, castor oil, ammonia.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
