verb
- to treat or anesthetize with cocaine
- to administer cocaine to; to cause to become addicted to cocaine
Usage: medical/technical; dated
Usage: informal; dated
Examples
- The surgeon decided to cocainize the patient's nasal passages before the procedure.
- Early anesthesiologists would cocainize the area to numb pain during minor surgery.
- The dentist cocainized the gum tissue to make the extraction painless.
- Historical medical texts describe how doctors would cocainize patients in the late 19th century.
- The local anesthetic effect came from cocainizing the surgical site.