ayahuasca
noun
Note: Ayahuasca produces hallucinations and euphoria and is used chiefly for religious, ritualistic, and medicinal purposes. Alkaloids present in ayahuasca inhibit the breakdown of dimethyltryptamine in the liver and gastrointestinal tract by monoamine oxidase.
Rafael Guimarães dos Santos et al.Joanne Lauciuscalled also hoasca, yage
Examples of ayahuasca in a Sentence
Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 24 Oct. 2024
These numerous dreamlike interludes, including several which predate the ayahuasca, are some of the film’s weakest moments—visually dazzling, certainly, but also tiresome and indulgent, testing the audience’s patience.
—Radhika Seth, Vogue, 3 Sep. 2024
And not all of the research is equally sound—the pea-shoot study, for example, performed in 2016 by the ecologist Monica Gagliano, who has written about communicating with plants while taking ayahuasca, is particularly controversial, and a replication effort was not successful.
—Rachel Riederer, The New Yorker, 12 June 2024
For the uninitiated, plant medicine is when people take ketamine, psilocybin, MDMA, or ayahuasca for psychological reasons.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 7 May 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Ayahuasca.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ayahuasca. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
ayahuasca
noun
Note: Ayahuasca produces hallucinations and euphoria and is used chiefly for religious, ritualistic, and medicinal purposes. Alkaloids present in ayahuasca inhibit the breakdown of dimethyltryptamine in the liver and gastrointestinal tract by monoamine oxidase.
Rafael Guimaraes dos Santos et al., Archives of Clinical PsychiatryLisa Melton, New Scientistcalled also caapi, yage
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