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curare

 - 5 dictionary results

cu⋅ra⋅re

  [kyoo-rahr-ee, koo-]
Use curare in a Sentence
–noun
1. a blackish, resinlike substance derived from tropical plants of the genus Strychnos, esp. S. toxifera, and from the root of pareira, used by certain South American Indians for poisoning arrows and employed in physiological experiments, medicine, etc., for arresting the action of motor nerves.
2. a plant yielding this substance.
Also, cu⋅ra⋅ri.

Origin:
1770–80; < Pg < Carib kurari
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cu·ra·re also cu·ra·ri   (kŏŏ-rä'rē, kyŏŏ-)   
n.  

  1. A dark resinous extract obtained from several tropical American woody plants, especially Chondrodendron tomentosum or certain species of Strychnos, used as an arrow poison by some Indian peoples of South America.

  2. A purified preparation or alkaloid obtained from Chondrodendron tomentosum, used in medicine and surgery to relax skeletal muscles.

  3. A plant yielding curare.


[Portuguese or Spanish curaré, both of Cariban and Tupian origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

curare 
1777, from Port. or Sp. curare, a corruption of the name in the Carib language of the Macusi Indians of Guyana, wurali or wurari, which had a sort of click sound at the beginning, and is said to mean "he to whom it comes falls."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: cu·ra·re
Variant: also cu·ra·ri /k(y)u-'rär-E/
Function: noun
: a dried aqueous extractespecially of a vine (as Strychnos toxifera of the family Loganiaceae or Chondodendron tomentosum of the family Menispermaceae) that produces muscle relaxation and is used in arrowpoisons by So. American Indians —compare TUBOCURARINE
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

curare cu·ra·re or cu·ra·ri (k&oobreve;-rä'rē, ky&oobreve;-)
n.

  1. An extract obtained from several tropical American woody plants, especially Chondrodendron tomentosum, used as an arrow poison by some Indian peoples of South America.

  2. A purified preparation or alkaloid obtained from Chondrodendron tomentosum, used to relax skeletal muscles.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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