muscarine

[muhs-ker-in, -kuh-reen]

noun Chemistry.

a poisonous compound, C8H19NO3, found in certain mushrooms, especially fly agaric, and in decaying fish.

Nearby words

Origin of muscarine

1870–75; < Latin muscār(ius) of flies (musc(a) fly + -ārius -ary) + -ine¹

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

Examples from the Web for muscarine

Muscarine at first excites the respiratory centre, and then paralyses it.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection|Alexander Wynter Blyth
Muscarine is a stronger base than ammonia, and precipitates copper and iron oxides from solutions of their salts.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection|Alexander Wynter Blyth
Muscarine is isomeric with betain and oxycholin, from which it is separated by its fluorescence and poisonous properties.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection|Alexander Wynter Blyth
This is the more curious, for muscarine strongly contracts the pupil.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection|Alexander Wynter Blyth

The poisons of rafflesia, muscarine, and orsere are introduced in his fictions; somewhere he devotes an essay to toxicology.
The Merry-Go-Round|Carl Van Vechten

British Dictionary definitions for muscarine

muscarine

noun

a poisonous alkaloid occurring in certain mushrooms. Formula: C 9 H 21 NO 3

Word Origin for muscarine

C19: from Latin muscārius of flies, from musca fly

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

Medicine definitions for muscarine

muscarine

[mŭs′kə-rēn′]

n.

A highly toxic alkaloid related to the cholines and having neurologic effects, isolated from certain mushrooms, especially Amanita muscaria.

Related formsmus′ca•rin′ic (-rĭn′ĭk) adj.

Science definitions for muscarine

muscarine

[mŭs′kə-rēn′]

A highly toxic, hallucinogenic alkaloid related to the cholines, derived from the red form of the mushroom Amanita muscaria and other mushrooms and found in decaying animal tissue. Chemical formula: C9H20NO2.