Definition

A clear, colorless liquid used as a treatment for poisoning from certain heavy metals and chemicals.

Example

The doctor administered dimercaprol to counteract the effects of mercury poisoning.

Conversation

Have you ever heard of dimercaprol?

Yeah, isn't it that antidote for heavy metal poisoning?

Exactly! It's also used for arsenic and mercury, right?

Right, it's pretty interesting how it works as a treatment.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Dimercaprol is formed from "di-" (meaning two) and "mercapto" (from Latin "mercurium" meaning mercury, combined with "-ol" which is a suffix used in chemistry to denote alcohols). The word refers to a compound that contains two mercapto groups, which are sulfur-containing functional groups that can bind to mercury.

Memory Tip

Think of 'two' ('di-') sulfur groups that 'bind' to 'mercury' ('mercapto') — that's what dimercaprol is.

Visually Confused Words