Pentobarbital

//ˌpɛn.təˈbɑɹ.bəˌtɔl// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A narcotic and sedative barbiturate drug (trademark Nembutal) formerly used to relieve insomnia. countable, uncountable

    "And lest anyone think traipsing through the gray and bleach-smelly execution chamber where triple homicide offenders are injected with pentobarbital isn't depressing enough, later they will stage a press conference in front of the gates of Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery, the parched plot of land where executed prisoners whose bodies family members prefer not to claim are buried."

  2. 2
    a barbiturate (trade name Nembutal) used as a sedative and hypnotic and antispasmodic wordnet

Example

More examples

"And lest anyone think traipsing through the gray and bleach-smelly execution chamber where triple homicide offenders are injected with pentobarbital isn't depressing enough, later they will stage a press conference in front of the gates of Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery, the parched plot of land where executed prisoners whose bodies family members prefer not to claim are buried."

Etymology

From pent(yl) + -o- + barbital.

Related phrases

More for "pentobarbital"

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.