an ‧ aes ‧ thet ‧ ic BrE AmE ( also anesthetic American English ) /ˌænəsˈθetɪk◂, ˌænɪsˈθetɪk◂/ noun [uncountable and countable]
a drug that stops you feeling pain
under anaesthetic
The operation will have to be done under anaesthetic (=using anaesthetic) .
Eye surgery is often performed using a local anaesthetic (=one that only affects a particular area of your body) .
You will need to have a general anaesthetic (=one that makes you completely unconscious) .
—anaesthetic adjective [only before noun] :
anaesthetic drugs