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nostrum

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.
nos·trum  (nstrm)
n.
1. A medicine whose effectiveness is unproved and whose ingredients are usually secret; a quack remedy.
2. A favorite but usually ineffective remedy for problems or evils.

[From Latin nostrum (remedium), our (remedy), neuter of noster; see nes-2 in Indo-European roots.]

nostrum [ˈnɒstrəm]
n
1. a patent or quack medicine
2. a favourite remedy, as for political or social problems
[from Latin: our own (make), from noster our]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.nostrum - hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists
curative, cure, therapeutic, remedy - a medicine or therapy that cures disease or relieve pain
elixir - a substance believed to cure all ills
2.nostrum - patent medicine whose efficacy is questionable
patent medicine - medicine that is protected by a patent and available without a doctor's prescription

nostrum
noun
1. remedy, answer, solution, cure They are still peddling yesterday's failed socialist nostrums.
2. medicine, drug, treatment, cure, remedy, potion, panacea, elixir, cure-all, patent medicine, quack medicine, specific Supermarket shelves are lined with nostrums claiming to alleviate flu symptoms.
Translations
nostrum [ˈnɒstrəm] N (= remedy) → remedio m secreto, panacea f (fig) → panacea f
nostrum
n (old lit, fig)Patentrezept nt


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Nay, he would sometimes retire hither to take his beer, and it was not without difficulty that he was prevented from forcing Jones to take his beer too: for no quack ever held his nostrum to be a more general panacea than he did this; which, he said, had more virtue in it than was in all the physic in an apothecary's shop.
His first thought when he had made Professor Maxon comfortable upon the couch was to fetch his pet nostrum, for there burned strong within his yellow breast the same powerful yearning to experiment that marks the greatest of the profession to whose mysteries he aspired.
Though, indeed, the vendor of a certain nostrum has vulgarized the truism to the very point of contempt.
 
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