noun
- Plural of elaterium; a purgative drug or extract obtained from the squirting cucumber plant.
Usage: archaic; medical/pharmaceutical history
Examples
- Historical medical texts describe elateriums as powerful purgative remedies.
- The ancient physicians prescribed elateriums derived from the squirting cucumber.
- Elateriums were among the harsh laxatives used in medieval medicine.
- Modern pharmacology has largely replaced elateriums with gentler alternatives.