ketamine

[kee-tuh-meen, -min]

noun Pharmacology.

a synthetic nonbarbiturate general anesthetic, C13H16ClNO, used to induce anesthesia, alone or in combination, in surgical or diagnostic procedures of short duration; extensively used in veterinary medicine.

Origin of ketamine

First recorded in 1965–70; ket- + -amine

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ketamine

Contemporary Examples of ketamine

Strong pain medications such as morphine and ketamine did not help.
U.K. Courts Grant Mother Right to End Her 12-Year-Old Disabled Daughter’s Life
Elizabeth Picciuto
November 4, 2014
He mentions drug use again (doing lines—probably of ketamine, a drug Bary references frequently).
An ISIS Killer in His Own Awful Words
Miranda Frum
September 3, 2014
Alig became hooked on heroin, ketamine, cocaine, and Rohypnol—a stupefying blend of substances for the once sober partier.
The Party Monster Lives For the Applause: Michael Alig’s Second Act
Caitlin Dickson
February 28, 2014
Everyone in Hollywood should go take his and her mistresses and concubines out for some celebratory Champagne and ketamine.
Newcomers Invade Emmys
Choire Sicha
August 30, 2010

British Dictionary definitions for ketamine

ketamine

noun

a drug, chemically related to PCP, that is used in medicine as a general anaesthetic, being administered by injection; cyclohexylamine

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

Word Origin and History for ketamine

1966, from keto-, comb. form of ketone, + amine.

ketamine in Medicine

ketamine

[kē′tə-mēn′]

n.

A general anesthetic given intravenously or intramuscularly in the form of its hydrochloride that produces catatonia and profound analgesia with little relaxation of the skeletal muscles.

ketamine in Science

ketamine

[kē′tə-mēn′]

A general anesthetic given intravenously or intramuscularly in the form of its hydrochloride salt, used especially for minor surgical procedures in which skeletal muscle relaxation is not required.