Opium is a powerful drug made from the juice or sap of a type of poppy. Opium is used in medicines that relieve pain or help someone sleep.
opium in British English
(ˈəʊpɪəm)
noun
1.
the dried juice extracted from the unripe seed capsules of the opium poppy that contains alkaloids such as morphine and codeine: used in medicine as an analgesic
2.
something having a tranquillizing or stupefying effect
Word origin
C14: from Latin: poppy juice, from Greek opion, diminutive of opos juice of a plant
opium in American English
(ˈoʊpiəm)
noun
1.
a yellow to dark brown, addicting, narcotic drug prepared from the juice of the unripe seed capsules of the opium poppy: it contains such alkaloidsas morphine, codeine, and papaverine, and is used as an intoxicant and medicinally to relieve pain and produce sleep
2.
anything that has a tranquilizing or stupefying effect
Word origin
L < Gr opion < opos, vegetable juice < IE base *s(w)ekwos-, plant juice > OProv sackis
Examples of 'opium' in a sentence
opium
This was much the point of his "opium of the people " thesis.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)
It would take raw opium out of the supply chain.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The camp would also have taught farming techniques to try to wean people off growing opium.
The Sun (2008)
It is the opium of the people.
Michael Burleigh Earthly Powers: Religion and Politics in Europe from the Enlightenment to the GreatWar (2005)
Gold medals are the new opium of the people.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The opium poppy is also larger.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The drug barons guarantee opium prices, taking away uncertainty involved in growing wheat.
The Sun (2009)
It looked a bit'like an opium den.
The Sun (2013)
A country where people took opium derivatives as routinely as we take aspirin.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Well, he did take opium.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
I would have been in some opium den, with hair in my eyes.
The Sun (2011)
He says things got worse in 2007 when he blocked the Americans from the aerial spraying of opium poppy fields.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
In other languages
opium
British English: opium NOUN
Opium is a powerful drug made from the juice or sap of a type of poppy. Opium is used in medicines that relieve pain or help someone sleep.