laetrile

[ ley-i-tril ]

noun
  1. a controversial drug, purported to cure cancer, prepared from the pits of apricots or peaches and containing about 6 percent cyanide by weight: banned by the FDA.

Origin of laetrile

1
1950–55; said to be a contraction of l-mandelonitrile, equivalent to l- + German Mandel almond + -o- + nitrile

Words Nearby laetrile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for laetrile

laetrile

/ (ˈleɪəˌtraɪl) /


noun
  1. an extract of peach stones, containing amygdalin, sold as a cure for cancer but judged useless and possibly dangerous by medical scientists

Origin of laetrile

1
C20: from laevorotatory + nitrile

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012