Link Centre Dictionary

curare

cu·rare

UK/kjʊˈɹɑː.ɹi/ US/kjʊˈɹɑ.ɹi/ rare

noun

1.

a toxic alkaloid found in certain tropical South American trees that is a powerful relaxant for striated muscles; used by South American indians as an arrow poison

  • “curare acts by blocking cholinergic transmission at the myoneural junction”
Synonyms

Origin

From a Cariban language; compare Kari'na urari, Trió urari, wïrari, Akawaio urari, Pemon urari, Macushi urari, referring to various vines of genus Strychnos.

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.