benzedrine

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English

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Etymology

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From the trade name for the first pharmaceutical (racemic) amphetamine (1932), derived from benzyl-methyl carbinamine.[1]

Noun

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benzedrine (uncountable)

  1. The racemic mixture of amphetamine (dl-amphetamine).
    • 1956, Allen Ginsberg, “Howl”, in Howl and Other Poems (Pocket Poets Series), City Lights Books, →OCLC, page 10:
      [] who chained themselves to subways for the endless ride from Battery to holy Bronx on benzedrine until the noise of wheels and children brought them down []
    • 1963, Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, Faber and Faber, page 118:
      Then I would be way ahead when college started at the end of September, and able to enjoy my last year instead of swotting away with no make-up and stringy hair, on a diet of coffee and benzedrine, the way most of the seniors taking honours did, until they finished their thesis.

Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Samuel H. Barondes (2003) chapter 5, in Better than Prozac, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, pages 62–63

Further reading

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Italian

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Noun

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benzedrine f

  1. plural of benzedrina