gramicidin

American

[gram-uh-sahyd-n] / ˌgræm əˈsaɪd n /

noun

Pharmacology.

a crystalline, water-insoluble antibiotic obtained from tyrothrycin by extraction, used chiefly in treating local infections caused by Gram-positive organisms.

gramicidin British

/ ˌɡræmɪˈsaɪdɪn /

noun

an antibiotic used in treating local Gram-positive bacterial infections: obtained from the soil bacterium Bacillus brevis

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of gramicidin

First recorded in 1935–40; Gram-(positive) + -i- + -cide + -in 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.

In spite of such failings, gramicidin touched off a chain reaction.

From Time Magazine Archive

Trouble with gramicidin is that it also destroys red blood cells, once it circulates in an animal's system.

From Time Magazine Archive

Since the tubercle bacillus belongs to this group, it seems almost certain to succumb to gramicidin too.

From Time Magazine Archive

The development of penicillin was independent of our work with gramicidin.

From Time Magazine Archive

This crystalline killer has been named "gramicidin" because its victims all belong to the large class of microbes which take the gentian violet and iodine stain developed by Hans Christian Joachim Gram of Denmark.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023