painkiller

[ peyn-kil-er ]

noun

1. a drug, treatment, or anything else that relieves pain, especially an analgesic.

painkiller

/ ˈpeɪnˌkɪlə /

noun

1. an analgesic drug or agent
2. anything that relieves pain

Other Words From

• painkilling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of painkiller¹

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; pain + killer

Example Sentences

In their suit, Justice Department lawyers contend Walmart executives set up a system that turned its 5,000 in-store pharmacies into one of the country’s biggest suppliers of highly addictive opioid painkillers.

From Fortune

In this case, Turner’s son wanted to see her so he could refill his prescription for painkillers.

From Voice of San Diego

Patients still needed infusions and relied on painkillers, mostly opioids, to manage episodes of intense, often debilitating pain.

From Ozy

Members of the Sackler family own and formerly directed Purdue Pharma, which introduced the powerful opioid painkiller OxyContin in 1996.

From Ars Technica

When you hear about people using, and dying from, heroin — an illegal drug — you might think of them as a different category of drug user than the people who take legal prescription painkillers.

From Freakonomics

His arthritic knees are at their worst, despite the endless shots of painkiller.

From The Daily Beast

Among the states with the most painkiller prescriptions per person, Alabama, Tennessee, and West Virginia were the top three.

From The Daily Beast

Zohydro is the new FDA-approved painkiller that some doctors think the FDA had no business approving.

From The Daily Beast

The FDA-approved painkiller is raising red flags in medical circles and consumer protection groups.

From The Daily Beast

Dr. Garg arrived to confirm the procedure and ask if I had any questions, and the anesthesiologist ordered a painkiller.

From The Daily Beast

Stuffed himself till his hide was stretched as tight as a sausage skin, and then howled for painkiller.

From Project Gutenberg

Gordon found one tablet of painkiller left in the bottle and swallowed it with the dregs of the coffee.

From Project Gutenberg

Painkiller would come next; after that, if need be, would come libations of red ink.

From Project Gutenberg

He once had some painkiller administered to him by Tom Sawyer.

From Project Gutenberg

"I guess you'll do well enough without any painkiller," he said to himself.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• aspirin
• drug
• medicine
• morphine
• ointment
• opiate
• sedative
• tranquilizer