local anaesthetic

British

noun

Often shortened to: local. med a drug that produces local anaesthesia See anaesthesia

"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

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.

She was given a local anaesthetic but Mrs Lord says the pain did not go away.

From BBC • Nov. 17, 2025

He often works while under fire, in trenches or makeshift outdoor clinics, and sometimes without local anaesthetic.

From BBC • Jul. 1, 2025

The procedure, which typically lasts between one and two hours, is usually carried out under local anaesthetic and is mainly performed on older patients.

From BBC • Jun. 4, 2025

The surgery, usually under local anaesthetic, takes 15 minutes.

From BBC • Mar. 11, 2023

He used a local anaesthetic called something or other “snow,” which froze the tissue and avoided pain until the probe, the scalpel or the forceps got below the frozen portion.

From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway

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