thalidomide
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From (ph)thal(ic acid) + (im)ido + (i)mide.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /θəˈlɪdəˌmaɪd/
Noun
thalidomide (countable and uncountable, plural thalidomides)
- (pharmacology) A drug sold during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a sleeping aid, and to pregnant women as an antiemetic to combat morning sickness and other symptoms, but withdrawn as causing severe birth defects, such as phocomelia; currently used to treat leprosy.
- 1988, E[dward] J[ames] Moran Campbell, Not Always on the Level, [London]: British Medical Journal, →ISBN, page 194:
- I have tried all the medium and short acting non-barbiturate sedatives since the war (including thalidomide) but they don’t work and I don’t trust the newfangled long acting, “safe” analgesics.
- 2001, “Left Behind”, performed by Slipknot:
- I can't stand to see your thalidomide robot face
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Derived terms
Translations
drug
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French
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Noun
thalidomide f (uncountable)
Further reading
- “thalidomide”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.