painkiller
Americannoun
noun
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an analgesic drug or agent
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anything that relieves pain
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of painkiller
Explanation
A painkiller is a medicine that's used to dull or relieve pain, like the painkiller your dad gives you when you have a bad headache. Painkillers are meant to do exactly what their name says: to kill pain. You can also call this kind of medication an analgesic. These range from aspirin and acetaminophen, which are sold over the counter to treat minor aches and pains, to powerful anesthetics administered by doctors before surgery. If you get your wisdom teeth removed, you'll most likely need a painkiller during and after the procedure.
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.
See Examples For:
A US appeals court on Monday vacated the dismissal of hundreds of private lawsuits against Tylenol-maker Kenvue that allege scientifically unproven ties of the painkiller to autism.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
A decade of loyalty card data across 211 million transactions in an unnamed chain of high street stores in England found paracetamol was the most common painkiller bought alongside tampons and sanitary towels.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
One of the most important advances against it came not from a new drug but a repurposed 19th-century painkiller.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
He previously wrote about Samsung from Seoul, but in prior stints at the Journal's New York, Atlanta and Chicago offices, he covered Wall Street's biggest buyers, painkiller addiction, airlines and food.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
He was putting more ice on my mouth because the painkiller they had given me at the hospital was wearing off.
From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio
In Pasadena, volunteers at the restaurant Chamo Venezuelan Cuisine collected supplies, issuing a special plea for bandages, gauze, painkillers and other over-the-counter medicines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
Lilly is expanding into non-opioid painkillers, a neuroscience growth area, despite a history of shelved candidates.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Kevin Liu, an oil and gas analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, compared the SPR releases as a painkillers for the oil market.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
In India, 40 million vultures were reduced to nearly zero by the presence of veterinary painkillers, lethal to vultures, in cattle carcasses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
I take off my glasses, wipe my palms across my eyes, and let them close, grateful the painkillers will dull all the aches with sleep.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
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.
