cocaine

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an addictive stimulant drug obtained from coca leaves or made synthetically, used illegally and sometimes medically as a local anesthetic

   The historical account describes both the medical use and the dangers of cocaine.

2. 2
   noun

   a chemical derivative or preparation of the cocaine alkaloid

   The laboratory analyzed a cocaine derivative used in the experiment.

Formed in the nineteenth century from coca + the chemical suffix -ine. Coca comes through Spanish from Quechua kuka, the name of the plant whose leaves contain the alkaloid.

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