ketamine

noun ke·ta·mine \ ˈkē-tə-ˌmēn , ˈke- \

|Updated on: 13 Jul 2018

Definition of ketamine

: a general anesthetic that is administered intravenously and intramuscularly in the form of its hydrochloride C₁₃H₁₆ClNO·HCl and that is used illicitly usually by being inhaled in powdered form especially for the dreamlike or hallucinogenic state it produces

Note: Ketamine is also called Special K when used as a recreational drug

Recent Examples of ketamine from the Web

This is why there's so much excitement around ketamine.

— moises velasquez-manoff, WIRED, "Ketamine Stirs Up Hope—and Controversy—as a Depression Drug," 8 May 2018
Instead, at the photo studio she was injected with horse tranquillizer ketamine by a man in a ski mask, stuffed into a suitcase and smuggled to a remote Italian farmhouse.

— amy jones, Fox News, "Kidnapped model hits back at abduction doubters, says she was willing to have sex with kidnapper to stay alive," 25 June 2018
Prosecutors say the conspiracy involved the distribution of fentanyl, ketamine, cocaine and heroin.

— kevin grasha, Cincinnati.com, "11 charged in massive drug, money-laundering conspiracy," 25 June 2018
Now, new research has uncovered a mechanism that may, in part, explain ketamine's antidepressant properties.

— simon makin, Scientific American, "Getting the Inside Dope on Ketamine’s Mysterious Ability to Rapidly Relieve Depression," 2 Mar. 2018
Rather than opioids like oxycodone, hydrocodone or fentanyl, Stader said, doctors used safer and less addictive alternatives, like ketamine and lidocaine, an anesthetic commonly used by dentists.

— john daley, Washington Post, "Ten ERs In Colorado Tried To Curtail Opioids And Did Better Than Expected," 23 Feb. 2018
Some were then given doses of ketamine, a pain-killing psychedelic.

— dennis wagner, azcentral, "Arizona National Guard hired suspended doctor for training," 15 July 2015
In a similar case, three midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., late last year were accused of selling cocaine, ketamine, and LSD to their classmates.

— bradford betz, Fox News, "Troops at US nuclear facility convicted for using LSD, other mind-altering drugs," 25 May 2018
Specifically, a 46-tweet thread in which Seamas O’Reilly, an Irish newspaper writer, relates how, thanks to a mundane service-industry scheduling mix-up, he was once called on to serve drinks to the president of Ireland while high on ketamine.

— nitsuh abebe, New York Times, "New Sentences: From a Tweet by Seamas O’Reilly," 16 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ketamine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ketamine

ket- + amine

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1966

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

Medical Dictionary

ketamine

noun ke·ta·mine \ ˈkēt-ə-ˌmēn \

medical Definition of ketamine

: a general anesthetic that is administered intravenously or intramuscularly in the form of its hydrochloride C₁₃H₁₆ClNO·HCl and that is used illicitly usually by being inhaled in powdered form especially for the dreamlike or hallucinogenic state it produces — see special k