Meanings
- uncountableA barbiturate, used formerly to induce sleep.
She died of an overdose of veronal. She's been taking it lately for sleeplessness. Must have taken too much.
1926, Agatha Christie, chapter 1, in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd2 more examples
He was by now so worn out that he could not resist my firmness. I gave him a sufficient dose of veronal to insure his unconsciousness for several hours. I thought that was the best service I could render him.
1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter 29, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLCI have seen the Brazilian press photograph of Zweig and Lotte, his second wife, lying dead of their overdoses of veronal on two pushed-together single iron bedsteads, he on his back, mouth a little agape, in a sweat-stained shirt and knitted tie, she on his shoulder in a floral wrap and clean hair, and you can practically hear the ceiling fan going round.
2010 January 28, Michael Hofmann, “Vermicular Dither”, in London Review of Books, volume 32, number 02, →ISSNSynonyms: barbital, diethylmalonyl urea, diethylbarbituric acid, barbitol
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA barbiturate, used formerly to induce sleep.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna barbiturate used as a hypnotic
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Former trade name, after the Italian city Verona.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Irish vearónach
- vearónachbarbiturate
Russian верона́л
- верона́л (veronál)barbiturate
Spanish veronal
- veronalbarbiturate
Cite this entry
veronal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/veronal
“veronal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/veronal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “veronal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/veronal.
Source: veronal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.