Plural of anesthetic; drugs or substances that cause numbness, pain relief, or unconsciousness used in medical procedures.
From Greek 'an-' (without) + 'aesthesis' (sensation) + '-ic' (adjective suffix), pluralized. The term became standard in the 19th century as different types of anesthetic drugs were developed.
There are local anesthetics (like novocaine at the dentist), regional anesthetics (numbing larger areas), and general anesthetics (knocking you completely out)—they work on different parts of your nervous system in completely different ways.
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