tramadol

tramadol — noun

1. a strong pain-relieving medicine that works on the nervous system, used when oth

1.nounC1
Definition

a strong pain-relieving medicine that works on the nervous system, used when other painkillers are not strong enough for a person's level of pain

Example

Dr. Okafor prescribed tramadol to João after his knee surgery to manage the pain.

prescribe + tramadol + to + person + after medical event

After hurting her back while moving furniture, Hoa took tramadol for three days.

take + tramadol + for + duration after injury

Common collocations
  • prescribe tramadol
  • take tramadol
  • tramadol dosage
  • tramadol tablets
  • tramadol addiction
  • tramadol withdrawal
Synonyms
  • opioid

    broader class of drugs that affect pain receptors; tramadol is one specific type of opioid

  • painkiller

    general everyday word for any medicine that reduces pain; less specific than tramadol

  • analgesic

    formal medical term for any pain-relieving substance; tramadol is a specific synthetic analgesic

Grammar Patterns

take + tramadol + for + condition/duration

prescribe + tramadol + to + person

tramadol + causes/works/helps + effect

Usage Note

Tramadol is treated as an uncountable noun when referring to the drug in general ('Tramadol is effective for nerve pain'), but can be countable when referring to individual pills ('The doctor told me to take two tramadols before bed').

Common Mistakes

I bought some tramadol at the supermarket.
I bought some ibuprofen at the supermarket; tramadol requires a prescription from a doctor.
Tramadol is a controlled medicine that cannot be sold over the counter.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Tramadol, codeine, and other opioids all work on the nervous system to relieve pain, but they differ in strength and legal status. 'Painkiller' is the broadest everyday term — any medicine that reduces pain, from aspirin to morphine. 'Analgesic' is the formal medical word for the same idea, used mostly by doctors and pharmacists. 'Opioid' refers to a whole class of drugs (both legal and illegal) that come from or are made to act like opium; tramadol is a specific synthetic opioid within this group. 'Codeine' is another prescription opioid, often found in cough syrups, and is generally considered milder than tramadol. For example, a dentist might prescribe codeine after a tooth extraction, whereas tramadol is more likely after major surgery.

painkiller ↗opioidanalgesiccodeine

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • orally
  • intravenously

Phrases

  • a dose of tramadol
  • a prescription for tramadol

Prepositions

Etymology

GermanEnglish

The name 'tramadol' was invented by scientists in the 1960s. The '-adol' part comes from the word 'analgesic', a medical term for painkiller. Tramadol was first developed in 1962 by the German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal.