1. a tincture of opium formerly used as a painkiller and sedative
Usage: historical; medical

Examples

• Victorian doctors commonly prescribed laudanum for various ailments.
• The medicine cabinet contained a small bottle of laudanum.
• Laudanum was widely available in 19th-century pharmacies.
• She took a few drops of laudanum to ease her pain.
• The addiction to laudanum became a serious problem in the 1800s.
• Many patent medicines of the era contained laudanum as an ingredient.