Crossword clues for ptomaine
ptomaine
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ptomaine \Pto"ma*ine\, n. [From Gr. ? a dead body.] (Physiol. Chem.) One of a class of animal bases or alkaloids formed in the putrefaction of various kinds of albuminous matter, and closely related to the vegetable alkaloids; a cadaveric poison. The ptomaines, as a class, have their origin in dead matter, by which they are to be distinguished from the leucomaines.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1880, from Italian ptomaina, coined by Professor Francesco Selmi of Bologna, 1878, from Greek ptoma "corpse," on notion of poison produced in decaying matter. Greek ptoma is literally "a fall, a falling," via the notion of "fallen thing, fallen body;" nominal derivative of piptein "to fall" (see symptom). Incorrectly formed, and Selmi is roundly scolded for it in OED, which says proper Greek would be *ptomatine.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context chemistry English) Any of various (l en amines) formed by putrefactive bacteria. 2 (context dated English) food poisoning
WordNet
n. any of various amines (such as putrescine or cadaverine) formed by the action of putrefactive bacteria [syn: ptomain]
a term for food poisoning that is no longer in scientific use; food poisoning was once thought to be caused by ingesting ptomaines [syn: ptomaine poisoning]
Usage examples of "ptomaine".
A cadaveric alkaloid or ptomaine has been found in the body, possessing many of the actions of aconitine.
And that old, specious, dressed-up, garbled, sea-sick ptomaine prancing about avidiously like an irremediable turkey gobbler with patent leather shoes on is my best friend.
If only a person is willing to risk polio from the pool, gangrene from the footbath, ptomaine from the hot dogs, and elephantiasis from the soap and the towels, he might possibly get laid.
In an age when the existence of ptomaines is a mystery we should not wonder at anything!
Was he killed by ordinary ptomaine poisoning, and had conine, or rather its double, developed first in his food along with other ptomaines that were not inert?
Ptomaine Willie will serve you with used sponges, library paste, and other delicacies.
But for the episode of the chocolates, I might have believed these deaths to be the result of severe ptomaine poisoning-but ptomaine poisoning of an unusually virulent kind.
This mysterious outbreak of ptomaine poisoning had occurred at Thurnly Grange.
But ptomaine poisoning was quick to pass, and the President had been ill for five days, and the balance of his tour was cancelled.
Perhaps we wouldn't die of ptomaine poisoning, though I had it in mind to invite Gerhard Mueller to try it first.
He had found his Complete and Concise Home Doctor (two massive volumes, cross-indexed, fifteen hundred pages, including everything from ptomaine poisoning to beauty tips on the care and shaping of the eyebrow) in the Port of London, and had even learned English in order to understand it.
Passing away as peacefully as ptomaine poisoning allowed, he had left Maud and her mother to manage alone.
The temperature is always below zero, there is usually a raging blizzard to keep cabs off the street, and just as the victim remembers that he has left his wallet in his overcoat on the press bus, his stomach erupts with a sudden attack of ptomaine poisoning.
Who cares if you're liable to get ptomaine poisoning in Antone's Restaurant.