blue pilln.
/ˌbluː ˈpɪl/, U.S. /ˈˌblu ˈpɪl/ Now historical.
1. Pharmacology. Any of various medicinal preparations containing metallic mercury or a compound of mercury, used esp. in the treatment of syphilis and disorders of the liver, and as a purgative; (as a count noun) a tablet of such a preparation.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > mineral medicine > [noun] > medicine prepared from mercury
mercury1617
blue pill1670
calomel1676
mercurial1676
silver-pill1753
blue mass1823
panacea of mercury1823
grey powder1842
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines of specific form > pills, tablets, etc. > [noun] > pill > specific type of pill
aggregative1588
Matthew's pill1663
blue pill1670
silver-pill1753
multi1984
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > preparations for treating specific parts > [noun] > for the liver
blue pill1807
iridin1879
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > preparations treating or preventing specific ailments > [noun] > for venereal disease or syphilis > others
green water1617
arsacetin1908
neosalvarsan1912
neoarsphenamine1918
blue pill1928
spectinomycin1964
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > cleansing or expelling medicines > [noun] > purgative > pill
Holloway's pill1838
No. nine1911
number nine1916
blue pill2010
1670 G. Harvey Little Venus Unmask'd (ed. 2) xix. 101 One [Empirick]..treated him with the Blew Pill, vulgarly so called from the blew tincture, the crude Mercury contributes to the Mass; otherwise it is called Pil. Barbarossæ from the Inventor.
1732 D. Turner Siphylis (ed. 4) ii. 167 However, this Way of taking crude Mercury I think at some times inferior to that in the blue Pill, called Barbarossæ vel Cæruleæ.
1787 W. Nisbet First Lines Theory & Pract. Venereal Dis. 400 It [sc. calomel] is the preparation in most esteem at Edinburgh next to the blue pill.
1807 C. Curtis Acct. Dis. India 141 Whenever there was suspicion of an inflammatory or obstructed state of liver, the blue pills were given alone, till the mouth became affected.
1861 E. Mayhew Dogs 102 A few years ago..blue-pill with black draught literally became a part of the national diet.
1868 J. R. Planché Pieces Pleasantry 14 There are blue devils which defy blue pills.
1928 C. S. Whitehead & C. A. Hoff Ethical Sex Relations (new ed.) i. viii. 323 The bichloride, the protiodide, and blue pill are the particular forms of mercury commonly used in syphilis, where it is necessary to employ the remedy for an extended length of time.
1997 R. Porter Greatest Benefit to Mankind x. 266 Calomel (mercurous chloride) appeared in every physician's bag throughout the nineteenth century, and was an active ingredient in the ‘blue pills’ prominent in nineteenth-century English therapeutics.
2010 Health & Hist. 12 33 Upon admission to hospital the patients receiving the experimental treatment were usually given a purgative: calomel or blue pill mixed with a solution of Epsom salts.
2. U.S. slang. A bullet. Now historical.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shell > bullet
bullet1579
lead1598
slug1622
lead towel1812
blue pill1834
1834 ‘J. Downing’ Life A. Jackson 111 They saw no hopes from fitin, they wern't fond of blue pills.
1861 N.Y. Tribune 10 Nov. Between blue pills, hatters, and the penitentiary we shall soon work off this element of rascaldom and horse-thieves.
1893 R. G. Hampton Major in Washington City 128 Drawin a bead on Bradley he let him have a blue pill in the elbow of his pistol arm and that stopt the fracas.
2008 R. M. Swiderski Quicksilver vi. 134 ‘Blue pill’ was the Union soldiers' nickname for a bullet, its weight and deadliness recalling the medication.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1670