hypodermic
/hʌɪpə(ʊ)ˈdəːmɪk
/adjective [attributive] Medicine
1Relating to the region immediately beneath the skin.TpnI 6a exons, the transcripts of which are mainly expressed in larval hypodermic muscles, may have evolved similarly.
1.1(Of a needle or syringe) used to inject a drug or other substance beneath the skin.He paid a $200 fine for possession of hypodermic syringes, needles, and other paraphernalia....
- Last week, Riverside County voted 3-2 to reject a proposal to provide clean hypodermic needles to intravenous drug users.
- The force required to move a syringe plunger is measured using a hypodermic syringe tester.
1.2(Of a drug or other substance) injected beneath the skin.But if instead of drinking the intoxicating liquor the victim takes it by hypodermic injection the Act does not apply, though the results may be equally disastrous.
noun
A hypodermic syringe or injection: the hypodermics left strewn around the piazza...
- It's comparable to finding junky hypodermics in the gutter at the Magic Kingdom.
- Today one can just use a needle and syringe to inject a drug into the bloodstream, but other means were needed in the days before hypodermics.
- Leave your barrel in the street next to the supermarket trolley, the rotting sofa and the binbag full of used hypodermics.
Synonyms
needle, syringe
informal hype, spike
Derivatives
hypodermically
- Morphine injected hypodermically was much more powerful and potentially addictive than opium taken orally.
- If it is desirable to stop the sweating abruptly, atropine hypodermically may be resorted to.
- The condition of these patients was alarming but improved under adrenalin hypodermically and artificial respiration.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from hypo- 'under' + Greek derma 'skin' + -ic.