chloral hydrate

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A colorless crystalline compound, C₂H₃Cl₃O₂, used as a sedative and hypnotic drug and in the manufacture of DDT.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun a chemical substance (CCl3.CH(OH)2) which is a hydrate of trichloroacetaldehyde. It crystallizes as white monoclinic plates, obtained by treating chloral with water. It produces sleep when taken internally or hypodermically, and is used in medicine as a hypnotic and sedative; -- called also chloral

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a colorless crystalline drug used as a sedative; irritates the stomach and can be addictive