| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
quinine qui·nine (kwī'nīn')
n.
A bitter colorless amorphous powder or crystalline alkaloid derived from certain cinchona barks and used to treat malaria.
Any of various compounds or salts of quinine.
| quinine (kwī'nīn') Pronunciation Key
A bitter-tasting, colorless drug derived from the bark of certain cinchona trees and used medicinally to treat malaria. For hundreds of years quinine was the only drug known to effectively combat malarial infection. It has since been largely replaced by synthetic compounds that not only relieve the symptoms of malaria but also rid the body of the malarial parasite, which quinine does not do. See Note at aspirin. |