quinine

plural quinines

1. countableuncountablemedicineAn alkaloid with the chemical formula C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂, originally derived from cinchona bark (from plants of the genus Cinchona), used to treat malaria and as an ingredient of tonic water, which presents as a bitter colourless powder; also, a drug containing quinine or a chemical compound derived from it.First known use early 19th c.

   The quinine, being more potent than cinchonine, is generally preferred.

   1828, The Medical Guide, Quinine, cinchonine, and sulphate of quinine

   5 more examples

   The alkali of yellow bark may be distinguished from cinchonine by the name of quinine.

   1821, The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and the Arts, volume 10

   In spite of quinine, the men sickened day by day. Many of them, fine, strong, active fellows, who had never known what a day's sickness meant, went down before the malarious mist that gathered in the jungles.

   1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 102

   He hadn't the faintest idea what to do with a cold in the head, he just took quinine and continued to blow his nose.

   1922, Michael Arlen, “2/9/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, London: W[illiam] Collins Sons & Co., →OCLC

   “Die? Yes, they’ll all die—all these men. No bandages, no salves, no quinine, no chloroform. Oh, God, for some morphia! Just a little morphia for the worst ones. Just a little chloroform. God damn the Yankees! God damn the Yankees!”

   1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published June 1944, →OCLC, part IV, page 363

   Quinine, taken in the evening, is considered by the Persians as an aphrodisiac aid.

   1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 202

present singular third person quinines · participle present quinining · participle past quinined · past quinined

1. archaictransitiveTo treat (someone) with quinine.

   Synonyms: quininize