Vincristine

//vɪnˈkɹɪ.stiːn// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A cytotoxic compound C₄₆H₅₆N₄O₁₀ of the alkaloid class obtained from the Madagascar periwinkle and used especially in the form of its sulfate to treat acute leukemia and other cancers. countable, uncountable

    "Although originally intended as an antidiabetic, vincristine at small doses was found to kill leukemia cells."

  2. 2
    periwinkle plant derivative used as an antineoplastic drug (trade name Oncovin); used to treat cancer of the lymphatic system wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
oncovin

Example

More examples

"Although originally intended as an antidiabetic, vincristine at small doses was found to kill leukemia cells."

Etymology

From vin- (“vinca alkaloid”) + Latin crista (“tuft of leaves on plants”) + -ine.

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