From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishethere‧ther /ˈiːθə $ -ər/ noun 1 [uncountable]MH a clear liquid used in the past as an anaesthetic to make people sleep before an operation2 → the ether
Examples from the Corpus
ether• It produces effects that mimic those of many other drugs, such as opium, cocaine, Valium, and ether.• Some formulations, incorporating a solvent normally glycol ether, have a useful low temperature activity.• Operations were carried out under light ether anaesthesia.• So no ether drag effects are perceptible to us.• They are trained to work from locked rooms inside diplomatic facilities to glean political and military secrets from the ether.• No electrical signal, whether down a wire or through the ether, appears able to travel faster than light.• The ether is not so much the carrier of cosmic electro-magnetic forces, as it is the materialised forces themselves.• Enya as a composer drifts alone in uncharted ether.Origin ether (1300-1400) Latin aether, from Greek aither, from aithein “to catch fire” 