Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A bitter, colorless, amorphous powder or crystalline alkaloid, C20H24N2O2·3H2O, derived from certain cinchona barks and used in medicine to treat malaria.
- noun Any of various compounds or salts of quinine.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A very important vegetable alkali (C20H24N2O2), obtained from the bark of several trees of the genus Cinchona.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Chem.) An alkaloid extracted from the bark of several species of cinchona (esp.
Cinchona Calisaya ) as a bitter white crystalline substance, C20H24N2O2. Hence, by extension (Med.), any of the salts of this alkaloid, as the acetate, chloride, sulphate, etc., employed as a febrifuge or antiperiodic. Called alsoquinia ,quinina , etc.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun pharmacology A
bitter colourless powder , analkaloid derived fromcinchona bark , used to treatmalaria and as an ingredient oftonic water .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a bitter alkaloid extracted from chinchona bark; used in malaria therapy
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Many men indulge in what we call the quinine habit.
From Whose Bourne Robert Barr 1881
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For example, the FDA ordered a number of manufacturers to stop marketing unapproved drugs that contain quinine, which is often used to treat leg cramps.
FDA official leads charge against dangerous unapproved prescription drugs 2010
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I hesitate to advise this, because I fear to induce any one to abandon quinine, which is the great weapon against malaria, and not from any want of faith in Dr. Plehn, for he has studied malarial fevers in Cameroon with the greatest energy and devotion, bringing to bear on the subject a sound German mind trained in a German way, and than this, for such subjects, no better thing exists.
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In the 1790s, Hahnemann undertook an experiment with Peruvian bark, the source of quinine, which is now used to treat malaria.
The Best Alternative Medicine Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier 2000
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In the 1790s, Hahnemann undertook an experiment with Peruvian bark, the source of quinine, which is now used to treat malaria.
The Best Alternative Medicine Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier 2000
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But she had no idea whether it was even called quinine here, or how it was administered.
Drums of Autumn Gabaldon, Diana 1997
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This infection often resists all human therapeutic measures, and is even aggravated by the use of quinine, which is given during the recurrent paroxysms of fever.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 458, October 11, 1884 Various
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The experiment was successful and so many trees were afterward planted that Java now furnishes about half the world's supply of quinine, which is extracted from the bark of the tree.
Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania Jewett Castello Gilson
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I hesitate to advise this, because I fear to induce any one to abandon quinine, which is the great weapon against malaria, and not from any want of faith in Dr. Plehn, for he has studied malarial fevers in Cameroon with the greatest energy and devotion, bringing to bear on the subject a sound German mind trained in a German way, and than this, for such subjects, no better thing exists.
Travels in West Africa Mary H. Kingsley 1881
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Their great value depends upon the presence of certain alkaloid substances called quinine, cinchonine, and quinidine, which exist in the bark in combination with tannic and other acids.
Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture William Saunders 1861
tomduck commented on the word quinine
This is what gives tonic water that funny taste I think.
December 7, 2006
andrew.simone commented on the word quinine
That is correct.
December 7, 2006
darqueau commented on the word quinine
nugatory, and a glass of quinine...
August 2, 2008
bilby commented on the word quinine
No.
March 24, 2009
sionnach commented on the word quinine
That's it. No more G & T's for pilpy!
March 24, 2009
bilby commented on the word quinine
What's that expression the cops are supposed use as a caution ...
anything you do say can and will be used against you.
Wordie's like that sometimes.
March 24, 2009
sionnach commented on the word quinine
Do you remember an inn, Miranda?
And a big fruity hat, Miranda?
Be careful how you answer, Miranda!
Because anything that you say may be used in evidence against you, Miranda!
March 24, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word quinine
"Quinine was the only treatment found to be effective against malaria, and in the middle of the nineteenth century malaria was a problem that determined the size and prosperity of an empire....
Simon Garfield, Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color that Changed the World (London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 2000), 30, 32.
October 4, 2017