ketamine

ke·ta·mine | \ ˈke-tə-ˌmēn

How to pronounce ketamine (audio)

, ˈkē-

How to pronounce ketamine (audio)

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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

Examples of ketamine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The recent Johns Hopkins research comes less than two years after the FDA approved a nasal spray containing ketamine for treatment-resistant depression. — NBC News, "Psychedelics as health and wellness aid? Not a hallucination," 15 Nov. 2020 Officials say there were a total of 30 pounds of liquid ketamine in the 11 shipments seized between Oct. 6 and 9, worth a cumulative value of about $215,000. — Madeline Mitchell, The Enquirer, "Feds: 30 pounds of illegal anesthetic manifested as personal care products seized in Cincinnati," 14 Oct. 2020 The City Council already has begun an investigation of Aurora's policies on using force and ketamine, the sedative injected into McClain. — CBS News, "Colorado attorney general announces broader probe of Aurora Police Department," 11 Aug. 2020 That can be hard to maintain in the wake of revelations like Hennepin Healthcare’s participation in a controversial study that administered the sedative ketamine to African Americans more often than white people during police encounters. — Joe Carlson, Star Tribune, "COVID widens racial gap in Minnesota's health care system," 14 Sep. 2020 CBS Denver reports the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which grants individual agencies waivers to use the sedative ketamine and can look into complaints about its use, is now launching an investigation. — CBS News, "Elijah McClain's death prompts Colorado health department to investigate ketamine," 29 July 2020 Every three months, Boland undergoes an intense ketamine infusion designed to help alleviate his chronic pain. — Kyle Newman, The Denver Post, "Mountain Vista baseball’s Patrick Boland battles painful condition on the diamond and through his non-profit, Ferocious Fighters," 28 June 2020 Medical ketamine clinics have been treating patients in the United States since 2014, and there are now dozens of such clinics across the country. — Olivia Goldhill, Quartz, "Ketamine’s promise as an antidepressant is being undermined by its lack of profit," 6 Aug. 2020 The fire department and paramedics were called to assist and injected McClain ketamine to sedate him. — N'dea Yancey-bragg, USA TODAY, "More than 2 million sign 'Justice For Elijah McClain' petition nearly a year after his death," 24 June 2020

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.

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Last Updated

9 Dec 2020

Cite this Entry

“Ketamine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ketamine. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.

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