Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Strychnine |
StrychnineNoun1. An alkaloid plant toxin extracted chiefly from nux vomica; formerly used as a stimulant. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "strychnine" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1859. (references) |
Etymology: Strychnine \Strych"nine\, noun. [Latin expression strychnos kind of nightshade: compare to the French expression strychnine.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | The data network architecture of Hewlett-Packard Corporation. Source: European Union. (references) |
Health | An alkaloid found in the seeds of nux vomica. It is a competitive antagonist at glycine receptors and thus a convulsant. It has been used as an analeptic, in the treatment of nonketotic hyperglycinemia and sleep apnea, and as a rat poison. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Strychnine is very bitter-tasting; in fact, it is the bitterest substance in the world! Its taste is detectable in concentrations as small as 1 part per million.
Strychnine poisoning can be fatal to humans, by inhalation, swallowing or skin contact. It produces some of the most dramatic, terrifying, best known, and painful symptoms imaginable. For this reason, strychnine poisoning is often used in literature and film. The approximate lethal dose is extremely small, less than 0.2mg/kg.
Ten to twenty minutes after exposure, every muscle in the body will start to simultaneously contract, starting with the head and neck. The spasms then spread to every muscle in the body, with nearly continuous convulsions. They get worse at the slightest stimulus. They progress, increasing in intensity and frequency until the backbone arches continually. Death comes from asphyxiation caused by paralysis of the brain's breathing apparatus, or by exhaustion from the convulsions. At that time, the body "freezes," even in the middle of a convulsion. Rigor mortis sets in immediately, with the eyes left wide open.
Treatment involves giving depressants to control the convulsions. If the patient lives 24 hours, recovery is probable.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Strychnine."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Bane | Poison, toxin; teratogen; leaven, virus venom; arsenic; antimony, tartar emetic; strychnine, nicotine; miasma, miasm, mephitis, malaria, azote, sewer gas; pest. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Strychnine |
| English words defined with "strychnine": brucine ♦ nux vomica ♦ Strychnia, Strychnic ♦ Tetanic, Thebaine. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "strychnine": Botanical Pesticide, Botanical pesticides ♦ Poison. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Strychnine" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. French (strychnine). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I'm about as popular as a dose of strychnine. (The Lady Vanishes; writing credit: Ethel Lina White; Sidney Gilliat) That's the kind puts strychnine in the well. (Anne of Green Gables; writing credit: Lucy Maud Montgomery; Kevin Sullivan) | |
Lyrics | With each drop of strychnine (Poisoning Pigeons In The Park; performing artist: Tom Lehrer) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | Tobacco, coffee, alcohol, hashish, prussic acid, strychnine, are weak dilutions; the surest poison is time. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Street heroin can also be cut with strychnine or other poisons. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Strychnine" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 88.89% of the time. "Strychnine" is used about 9 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) | 88.89% | 8 | 124,375 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 11.11% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 9 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; 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 |
strychnine | 57 |
poisoning strychnine | 4 |
drug model strychnine | 4 |
strychnine sulphate | 3 |
plant strychnine | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "strychnine"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | strikninë. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | الإستركنين مادة سامة. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | стрихнин. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | strychnin. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | stryknin. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | strychnine. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | استرکنین(strychnin)(ش.). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | strychnine. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Strychnin. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | στρυχνίνη, στρυχτίνη. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | sztrichnin. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | stricnina. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | strickneen. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ychninestray estricnina. (various references) stricninã. (various references) стрихнин. (various references) strihnin. (various references) estricnina. (various references) stryknin. (various references) striknin. (various references) стрихнін, блювотний корінь. (various references) dược Stricnin. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "strychnine": strychnines. (additional references) | |
| |
"Strychnine" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: strichnine, strychine, strychnyne, strycnine. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "strychnine" (pronounced stri"knī'n) |
| 3 | -n ī' n | asinine, canine, quinine. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-h-i-n-n-r-s-t-y" | |
-2 letters: christen, citherns, cithrens, hysteric, intrench, shinnery, snitcher, thinners. | |
-3 letters: christy, cistern, cithern, cithers, cithren, cretins, cystein, cystine, ethnics, hinters, interns, richens, richest, shinney, stenchy, sthenic, thinner, tinners. | |
-4 letters: cherts, cherty, chesty, chines, chints, citers, cither, cretin, encyst, enrich, estrin, ethics, ethnic, henrys, hinter, hyenic, incest, inches, inerts, inners, insect, insert, intern, inters, itches. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-h-i-n-n-r-s-t-y" | |
+1 letter: strychnines. | |
+2 letters: synchroneity. | |
+3 letters: nonhysterical. | |
+4 letters: hyperfunctions, synchroneities. | |
+5 letters: synchronicities. | |
| 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. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Familiar 6. Quotations: Non-fiction 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions: Internet | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Derivations 11. Rhymes 12. Anagrams | 13. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
