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anesthetic

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.

anesthetic

Agent that produces a local or general loss of sensation, including pain, and therefore is useful in surgery and dentistry. General anesthesia induces loss of consciousness, most often using hydrocarbons (e.g., cyclopropane, ethylene); halogenated (see halogen) hydrocarbons (e.g., chloroform, ethyl chloride, trichloroethylene); ethers (e.g., ethyl ether or vinyl ether); or other compounds, such as tribromoethanol, nitrous oxide, or barbiturates. Local anesthesia induces loss of sensation in one area of the body by blocking nerve conduction (see nervous system, neuron), usually with alkaloids such as cocaine or synthetic substitutes (e.g., lidocaine). See also anesthesiology.


anaesthetic (US), anesthetic
a substance that causes anaesthesia

anesthetic [¦an·əs¦thed·ik]
(pharmacology)
A drug, such as ether, that produces loss of sensibility.


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But then it was brilliantly new and surprising; it seemed to be the last word that could be said for the truth in fiction; and it had a spell that held us like an anesthetic above the ache of parting, and the anxiety for the years that must pass, with all their redoubled chances, before our home circle could be made whole again.
No anesthetic had been administered and the shrieks and groans of the tortured man were terrible to hear.
 
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