noun
- a black, resinous substance prepared from the juices of certain South American plants and used by some Indians for poisoning arrows: it causes motor paralysis when introduced into the bloodstream and is used in medicine for spasms or to relax muscles, as during surgery
- any of certain plants (esp. Chondrodendron tomentosum of the moonseed family), from which curare is prepared
Origin:
Port curare, curari or Sp curaré, urarí < native (Tupí) name