ouabain
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English
Etymology
From ouaba(io) + -in, after French ouabain, ultimately from Somali waabaayo, meaning "arrow poison".
Pronunciation
Noun
ouabain (countable and uncountable, plural ouabains)
- A poisonous cardiac glycoside, g-strophanthin, found in the seeds of certain lianas.
- 1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 113:
- In moderate dosage ouabain is used today to treat emergency heart failure; in excessive doses it makes the heart go crazy, pumping wildly until it collapses.