paraldehyde

American  

[puh-ral-duh-hahyd] / pəˈræl dəˌhaɪd /

noun

Chemistry, Pharmacology.

1. a colorless, liquid, cyclic compound, C 6 H 1 2 O 3 , having a disagreeable taste but an agreeable odor, produced by the polymerization of acetaldehyde with sulfuric acid: used chiefly in the manufacture of organic chemicals and in medicine as a sedative and hypnotic.

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paraldehyde British  

/ pəˈrældɪˌhaɪd /

noun

1. a colourless liquid substance that is a cyclic trimer of acetaldehyde: used in making dyestuffs and as a hypnotic and anticonvulsant drug. Formula: (C 2 H 4 O) 3

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Etymology

Origin of paraldehyde

First recorded in 1855–60; par- + aldehyde

Example Sentences

After almost a year at Juniper Hill, Virginia was pronounced cured�but not before she and her fellow patients had been treated to shock therapy, hydrotherapy, psychoanalytical questionings, paraldehyde dosings and old-fashioned madhouse discipline.

From Time Magazine Archive

With the intention of taking up pharmacy he entered Heidelberg University about 1835, and after graduating went to Giessen as pr�parateur to Liebig, with whom he elucidated the composition of paraldehyde and metaldehyde.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various