anesthetic

1. (American spelling, medicine) A substance administered to reduce the perception of pain or to induce numbness for surgery and may render the recipient unconscious.Examples: "After a local anesthetic is applied to the eye, do not rub or wipe the eye until the anesthetic has worn off and feeling in the eye returns."; "Modern anesthetics can be divided into several different groups according to how and where they act to reduce pain. During premedication, the anesthetist may give a patient drugs that make him or her feel relaxed and drowsy before the actual general anesthetic is administered."CanadaUS