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amphetamine definition

☆ am·phet·amine (am fet′ə mēn′, -min)

noun

  1. a colorless, liquid drug, CHCHCH(NH)CH, that acts as a stimulant of the central nervous system and is used, usually in its crystalline sulfate or phosphate form, as a medicine to treat narcolepsy, depression, obesity, and Parkinson's disease: often used nonmedically for its stimulant effect, it is potentially habit forming
  2. any closely related drug, as Dexedrine

Etymology: a(lpha-)m(ethyl-beta-)ph(enyl-)et(hyl-)amine

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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