counterirritant
Americannoun
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Medicine/Medical. an agent for producing inflammation in superficial tissues to relieve pain or inflammation in deeper structures.
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any irritation or annoyance that draws attention away from another.
adjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of counterirritant
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.
Menthol is a counterirritant, which relieves underlying pain near the site of application by causing irritation at the surface.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 16, 2013
Well, you take the two pails of ice water, throw a little dirt in them, to act as a counterirritant, strip, and stand with one foot in each pail.
From Time Magazine Archive
Despite President Roosevelt's fervid interest in naval shipbuilding as a counterirritant to unemployment, the U. S. will not be up to Treaty par before 1939.
From Time Magazine Archive
In desperation, he learned how to tickle his nose until he sneezed, which helped somewhat as a counterirritant.
From Time Magazine Archive
She had early learned to ignore his moods, to avoid sympathy which aggravates, and to meet his blues with a vigorous counterirritant of liveliness.
From Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise by David Graham Phillips
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.
