ipecac

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a medicinal drug used to evoke vomiting (especially in cases of drug overdose or poisoning)

Contraction of ipecacuanha, from Portuguese ipecacuanha, from Old Tupi ypekakûãîa, from ypeka (“duck”) + akûãîa (“penis”).

Just wait till I get the ipecac bottle--you mayn’t have any at your house. — Anne of Green Gables, L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery
And Maurice had really drained--to the dregs--the bottle of old hair tonics, dead catsups, syrups of undesirable preserves, condemned extracts of vanilla and lemon, decayed chocolate, ex-essence of beef, mixed dental preparations, aromatic spirits of ammonia, spirits of nitre, alcohol, arnica, quinine, ipecac, sal volatile, nux vomica and licorice water-- with traces of arsenic, belladonna and strychnine. — Penrod, Booth Tarkington

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