Pharmacologic Substance
emetic Audio
e·met·ic [ uh-met-ik ]
Subclass of:
Physiological Effects of Drugs; Central Nervous System Agents; Gastrointestinal Agents; Autonomic Agents
Etymology:
Greek emein = to vomit
An emetic causes emesis or vomiting.
Definitions related to emetics:
  • Any drug or other substance used to cause vomiting.
    Harvard Dictionary of Health Terms
    Harvard Medical Publishing, 2011
  • Class of agents that cause vomiting; may act directly on the gastrointestinal tract, bringing about emesis through local irritant effects, or indirectly, through their effects on the chemoreceptor trigger zone in the postremal area near the medulla.
    CRISP Thesaurus
    National Institutes of Health, 2006
  • Describes a substance that causes vomiting.
    NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • Agents that cause vomiting. They may act directly on the gastrointestinal tract, bringing about emesis through local irritant effects, or indirectly, through their effects on the chemoreceptor trigger zone in the postremal area near the medulla.
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
  • Emetic, any agent that produces nausea and vomiting. The use of emetics is limited to the treatment of poisoning with certain toxins that have been swallowed. Although its use is now discouraged, the most commonly used drug for this purpose was ipecac syrup, prepared from the dried roots of...
    Encyclopedia Britannica
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2025
Try this search on: Farlex, Merriam-Webster, Oxford Dictionary, or Wordnik

This content should not be used in place of medically-reviewed decision support reference material or professional medical advice. Some terms may have alternate or updated definitions not reflected in this set. The definitions on this page should not be considered complete or up to date.