barbiturate
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of barbiturate
First recorded in 1925–30; barbitur(ic) + -ate 2
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.
See Examples For:
The publication also quotes a medical expert who observed that pentobarbital, the single-drug barbiturate used in Black’s execution, “should cause rapid unconsciousness. It sounds like this did not occur.”
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2025
Some switched to using a single drug, the barbiturate pentobarbital, which is a sedative and anticonvulsant often used before surgeries or to treat epilepsy.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 23, 2022
But conspiracists wondering why the deputy medical examiner who performed the autopsy found no barbiturate residue in the 36-year-old movie star’s stomach if she ingested the drugs orally were disappointed by the answers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2022
Stephen Gray’s deposition, taken last year and unsealed May 24, suggests Ohio may have a possible source of a barbiturate called pentobarbital through a compounding pharmacist.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 5, 2017
Under the policy, the state’s top prison official would be required, in one execution drug protocol, to use the barbiturate pentobarbital that’s obtained by lawyers for inmates or someone acting on their behalf.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2017
The analysis focused on five categories of CNS-active medications: antidepressants with strong anticholinergic properties, antipsychotics, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and non-benzodiazepine hypnotics.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 13, 2026
Mr Crew, who died aged 74, reportedly told nurses "I want to die today" before drinking water laced with barbiturates under the supervision of Dignitas.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2024
The Omsk region Ministry of Health announced Saturday that no signs of known toxins were found in Navalny’s system, including barbiturates, strychnine, synthetic poisons and oxybutyrates, used to treat conditions such as narcolepsy.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 22, 2020
Assistant Attorney General John Hadden said Oklahoma and other states have been forced to look for other drug alternatives after more commonly used short-acting barbiturates became scarce because of manufacturers’ opposition to the death penalty.
From Time ● Dec. 17, 2014
“All barbiturates put the brain to sleep by slowing down brain function,” said Dr. Mark A. Warner, president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
From New York Times ● Apr. 9, 2011
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.
