Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Curare |
CurareNoun1. A toxic alkaloid found in certain tropical South American trees that is a powerful relaxant for striated muscles; used by South American indians as an arrow poison; "curare acts by blocking cholinergic transmission at the myoneural junction". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "curare" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1588. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Food & Agriculture | Aqueous extract from plants of the Strychnos family. Source: European Union. (references) |
Health | Plant extracts from several species, including Strychnos toxifera, S. castelnaei, S. crevauxii, and Chondodendron tomentosum, that produce paralysis of skeletal muscle and are used adjunctively with general anesthesia. These extracts are toxic and must be used with the administration of artificial respiration. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Indian peoples prepared it by combining young-bark scrapings of the relevant plants with other cleaned plant fragments and sometimes snake venom or venomous ants. This mixture was boiled in water for about two days and then strained and evaporated to become a dark, sticky, bitter-tasting paste. The potency would be tested by counting the number of steps a small animal would take after being pricked. Darts were tipped with curare and then fired through blowguns made of bamboo. Death for birds would take one to two minutes, small mammals up to ten minutes, and large mammals (e.g. tapirs) about 20 minutes. Curare, a major industry for some tribes, was generally too expensive and scarce to be used in warfare.
The principal chemicals of curare are alkaloids that affect neuromuscular transmission. Among the many alkaloids present in curare preparations, the most important ones are curarine and tubocurarine.
Death from curare is caused by loss of the ability to breathe as a result of paralysis. The alkaloid curare molecule mimics the neurotransmitter acetylcholine by binding to its receptor at muscle synapses. This prevents nerves from stimulating muscle contraction. The resulting paralysis onsets gradually, because curare must compete for receptor binding sites before occupying them. Typically the toxin kills only if it enters the blood stream. The amounts used to hunt animal are easily broken down in the gut, making the downed game safe for hunters and others to eat. Curare vapor is not poisonous, although many tribes have believed it is.
As curare acts only at muscular synapses and not at the cholinergic synapses of the central nervous system (curare does not cross the blood-brain barrier), a victim of curare poisoning may be aware of what is happening until the very end. Consequently, the victim can feel the paralysis progressing but is quickly unable to move, call out or gesture. If artificial respiration is performed throughout the victim usually recovers without ill effects.
Curare, usually in the form of d-tubocurare, was the first muscle relaxant to be used medically. Nowadays, synthetic drugs such as Pancuronium bromide with similar molecular action are used.
For surgical operations and especially in abdominal surgery, the muscle-relaxant effect of many anaesthetics in usual doses is not potent enough to facilitate operative procedures such as wound closure and suturing. Therefore, curare-like drugs are combined with relatively low doses of anaesthetics. The first recorded application of curare in this role was by a German surgeon, Arthur Läwen, in 1912, but it became commonplace only after trials by Dr Harold Griffith and Enid Johnson of Montreal, Canada in 1942.
It is also useful for treating the paralysis caused by tetanus because the muscle relaxant counters the contractions caused by the tetanus toxin; and as a relaxant during the setting of broken bones.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Curare."
Synonym: CurareSynonym: tubocurarine (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Curare |
| English words defined with "curare": Corroval, Curarine, Curarize ♦ Mydatoxin ♦ Urali, Urari ♦ Woorali, Wourali. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "curare": Edrophonium ♦ Pancuronium, Petty Cury ♦ Toxiferine. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "curare": Curator. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Curare" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. French (curacy, curare), Italian (attend, curarize, cure, doctor, edit, follow a treatment, heal, look after of, make sure, medicate, nurse, nursing, take care, tend to, treat), Latin (anxiety, arrange, attend to, care about, cure, desire, heal, interest, procure, provide for, regard w, see, take care of, take trouble, undertake, worry), Portuguese (curare), Spanish (curare). |
| Domain | Title |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Curare" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 83.33% of the time. "Curare" is used about 12 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 83.33% | 10 | 111,207 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 8.33% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 8.33% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 12 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "curare": curare-based. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
curare | 52 |
curare dermatiti | 8 |
curare psoriasi | 7 |
curare dermatiti psoriasi | 5 |
curare natura secondo | 4 |
curare group | 4 |
curare farmaci la per sclerodermia | 3 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "curare"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | курари. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | kurare. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | curare. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | curare (curacy). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Kurare. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | κουράριο, βοηθόσ (aide, assistant, coadjutor, help, helper, helpmate, helpmeet), εφημέριοσ (chaplain, ephemeral, parson, rector, vicar), δηλητηριώδησ ουσία εν τροπικών δένδρων τησ αμερικήσ. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | nyílméreg. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | curaro. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | urarecay curare. (various references) кураре. (various references) kurare. (various references) curare. (various references) kurare. (various references) кураре (arrow-poison). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Date | Source | Matthew Chapter 17, Verse 15 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Kai legwn kurie elehson mou ton uion oti selhniazetai kai kakwV pascei pollakiV gar piptei eiV to pur kai pollakiV eiV to udwr |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et obtuli eum discipulis tuis et non potuerunt curare eum |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | Drihten gemiltse minne sune. for-þanþe he ys wel-seoc. & yfel þoleð. oft he falð on fyr. & gelomlice on wætere. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And Y brouyte hym to thi disciplis, and thei myyten not heele hym. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | Master have mercy on my sonne for he is franticke: and is sore vexed. And oft tymes he falleth into the fyre and oft into ye water |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic, and grievously distressed; for often he falleth into the fire, and often into the water. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | Lord have mercy on my son: for he is off his head, and is in great pain; and frequently he goes falling into the fire, and frequently into the water. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Matthew Chapter 17, Verse 15 |
| Cebuano | "Ginoo, kaluy-i intawon ang akong anak nga lalaki kay siya patulon ug nagaantus sa hilabihan; kay subsob siya nga mahulog ngadto sa kalayo, ug subsob nga mahulog ngadto sa mga tubig. |
| Croatian | i reèe: "Gospodine, smiluj se sinu mojemu jer je mjeseèar i zlo mu je. Èesto doista pada u oganj i èesto u vodu. |
| Danish | "Herre! forbarm dig over min Søn, thi han er månesyg og lidende; thi han falder ofte i Ild og ofte i Vand; |
| Dutch | Heere! ontferm U over mijn zoon; want hij is maanziek, en is in zwaar lijden; want menigmaal valt hij in het vuur, en menigmaal in het water. |
| Finnish | ja sanoi: "Herra, armahda minun poikaani, sillä hän on kuunvaihetautinen ja kärsii kovin; usein hän kaatuu, milloin tuleen, milloin veteen. |
| French | Seigneur, aie pitié de mon fils, qui est lunatique, et qui souffre cruellement; il tombe souvent dans le feu, et souvent dans l`eau. |
| German | und sprach: HERR, erbarme dich über meinen Sohn! denn er ist mondsüchtig und hat ein schweres Leiden: er fällt oft ins Feuer und oft ins Wasser; |
| Haitian Creole | Mèt, gen pitye pou pitit gason m' lan. Li gen malkadi. Lè ou tande kriz la pran l' konsa, anpil fwa li tonbe nan dife osinon nan dlo. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | dan berkata, "Bapak, kasihanilah anak saya. Ia sakit ayan. Serangan ayannya begitu hebat sehingga ia sering sekali jatuh ke dalam api dan sering juga ke dalam air. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | "Ya Tuhan, kasihankanlah anak hamba yang laki-laki, karena ia gila babi, lagi amat sangat sengsaranya; karena kerapkali ia jatuh ke dalam api dan kerapkali ke dalam air, |
| Italian | che, gettatosi in ginocchio, gli disse: «Signore, abbi piet di mio figlio. Egli è epilettico e soffre molto; cade spesso nel fuoco e spesso anche nell'acqua; |
| Manx Gaelic | Hiarn, jean chymmey er my vac, son t'eh ass e cheeayl, as dy mooar seaghnit: son t'eh dy mennick tuittym ayns yn aile, as dy mennick ayns yn ushtey. |
| Maori | E te ariki, kia aroha ki taku tana; he haurangi hoki ia, he kino tona mamae: he maha hoki ona hinganga ki te kapura, he maha ki te wai. |
| Norwegian | Herre! miskunn dig over min sønn! Han er månesyk og Iider storlig; ofte faller han i ilden og ofte i vannet. |
| Portuguese | Senhor, tem compaixão de meu filho, porque é epiléptico e sofre muito; pois muitas vezes cai no fogo, e muitas vezes na água. |
| Rumanian | ,,Doamne, ai milq de fiul meu, cqci este lunatic, wi pqtimewte rqu: de multe ori cade kn foc, wi de multe ori cade kn apq. |
| Shuar | Tura Tímiayi "Uuntá, winia uchir waitnentrutrata. Wainchi tukum ti Wáitniuiti. Jiniumsha patamniuiti. Entsasha iniainaiti. |
| Spanish | diciendo: --¡Señor, ten misericordia de mi hijo, que es lunático y padece gravemente. Pues muchas veces cae en el fuego, y muchas veces en el agua. |
| Swahili | akasema, "Mheshimiwa, mwonee huruma mwanangu kwa kuwa ana kifafa, tena anateseka sana; mara nyingi yeye huanguka motoni na majini. |
| Swedish | och sade: "Herre, förbarma dig över min son ty han är månadsrasande och plågas svårt; ofta faller han i elden och ofta i vattnet. |
| Uma | "Pue', poka'ahi' -ka-kuwo ana' -ku. Mohaki' limpuangaa-i, pai' jau-i molimpu' nakeni haki' -na. Jau-i modungka hi rala apu, jau wo'o-i modungka hi rala ue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "curare": curares. (additional references) | |
| |
"Curare" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Carrard, Carraro, cerar, Cetraro, Chukara, cocarel, Corary, Corbara, courare, courre, Crarae, creare, cubare, culrure, Cunarder, curace, curage, curara, Curaray, curares, curere, curiar, curier, curra, Currah, currane, curras, Curray, curre, currere, Kervaire, koradrel, kuare. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-e-r-r-u" | |
-1 letter: carer, crura, curer, racer, recur, urare. | |
-2 letters: acre, care, carr, cure, curr, ecru, race, rare, rear, ruer, urea. | |
-3 letters: ace, arc, are, car, cue, cur, ear, eau, ecu, era, err, rec, rue. | |
-4 letters: ae, ar, er, re. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-e-r-r-u" | |
+1 letter: curares, farceur, verruca. | |
+2 letters: acquirer, arcature, capturer, carburet, carouser, creature, crusader, curarine, curarize, ecraseur, farceurs, fracture, furcraea, supercar, surfacer, traducer, verrucae. | |
+3 letters: acquirers, arcatures, barbecuer, capturers, carburets, carburise, carburize, carousers, carrefour, carrousel, corrugate, cranreuch, creatural, creatures, crusaders, cupbearer, curarines, curarized, curarizes, curlpaper, curtailer, curvature, ecraseurs, fractured, fractures, furcraeas, hurricane, lacquerer, mercurate, mercurial, muckraker, opercular, purchaser, raconteur, raunchier, reacquire, recapture, relacquer, resurface, reticular, rubricate, supercars, superrace, surcharge, surfacers, traducers, unclearer, undercard, unscarred. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Usage Frequency 6. Expressions 7. Expressions: Internet 8. Translations: Modern | 9. Bible Trace 10. Derivations 11. Anagrams 12. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
