Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An extremely poisonous white crystalline alkaloid, C21H22O2N2, derived from nux vomica and related plants, used as a poison for rodents and other pests and formerly as a stimulant.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A vegetable alkaloid (C21H22N2O2), the sole active principle of Strychnos Tieuté, the most active of the Java poisons, and one of the active principles of S. Ignatii, S. Nux-vomica, S. colubrina, etc.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Chem.) A very poisonous alkaloid resembling brucine, obtained from various species of plants, especially from species of
Loganiaceæ , as from the seeds of the St. Ignatius bean (Strychnos Ignatia ) and from nux vomica. It is obtained as a white crystalline substance, having a very bitter acrid taste, and is employed in medicine (chiefly in the form of the sulphate) as a powerful neurotic stimulant. Called alsostrychnia , and formerlystrychnina .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun chemistry A very
toxic , colourless crystallinealkaloid , derived fromnux vomica , used as apesticide
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an alkaloid plant toxin extracted chiefly from nux vomica; formerly used as a stimulant
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word strychnine.
Examples
-
November 19th, 2008 strychnine is a grand tonic, kemp, to take to take the flabbiness out of a man!
strychnine is a grand tonic, kemp, to take to take the flabbiness out of a man! matociquala 2008
-
When a small quantity of strychnine kills a man, the strychnine is the inciting power; the nature of his nervo-muscular system, apt to be thrown into spasms by that drug, and all the organs of his body dependent on that system, are the collocation.
Logic Deductive and Inductive Carveth Read 1889
-
Small-pox is a nuisance; strychnine is a nuisance; mad dogs are a nuisance; slavery is a nuisance; slaveholders are a nuisance, and so are slave-breeders; it is our business, nay, it is our imperative duty, to abate nuisances; we propose, therefore, with the exception of strychnine, which is the least of all these nuisances, to exterminate this catalogue from beginning to end.
-
Predators, including the striped hyena, have been persecuted throughout the ecoregion by the widespread use of poisons such as strychnine because they kill livestock.
-
During the 1950's the development was rapid and many challenging molecules such as strychnine and morphine were made synthetically.
-
These would establish whether Mr Williams was poisoned using a deadly toxin such as strychnine, cyanide or thallium, administered in such a way as to leave no mark visible to the naked eye.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED 2010
-
The minute any human or human institution arrogates to itself a singular knowledge of God, there comes into that knowledge a kind of strychnine pride, and it is as if the most animated and vital creature were instantaneously transformed into a corpse.
unknown title 2009
-
For no particular reason I would like to remark that "strychnine" has the same number of syllables as "teamwork."
a little pregnant 2008
-
For no particular reason I would like to remark that "strychnine" has the same number of syllables as "teamwork."
a little pregnant 2008
-
We have with great success made a practice of not leaving arsenic and strychnine, and typhoid and tuberculosis germs lying around for our children to be destroyed by.
Chapter 38 2010
tankexmortis commented on the word strychnine
Some folks like water
Some folks like wine
Well I like the taste
Of straight strychnine
You may think it's funny
That I like this stuff
But once you've tried it
You can't get enough
Wine is red
Poison is blue
Strychnine is good
For what's ailing you
If you listen to what I say
You'll try strychnine some day
Make you cough it'll make you shout
It'll even knock you out
-The Sonics, "Strychnine"
January 17, 2007
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word strychnine
In a few minutes, the muscles start convulsing, beginning with the head and neck moving down to the back. The victim finally dies of exhaustion and paralysis of the neural pathways that control breathing. According to Wikipedia: it produces some of the most dramatic and painful symptoms of any known toxic reaction.
August 18, 2009