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
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
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
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.
