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colchicine definition

col·chi·cine (käl′c̸hi sēn′, -sin′; käl′ki-)

noun

a poisonous, yellow alkaloid, CHNO, extracted from the seeds or corms of a species of colchicum (Colchicum autumnale): used in the treatment of gout, in genetic engineering, and to produce chromosome doubling in plants for greater growth and fertile hybrids

Etymology: < colchicum + -ine

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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