a drug formerly used as a sedative, but withdrawn in the UK in the early 1960s after it was found to cause congenital malformation or absence of limbs in children whose mothers took the drug during early pregnancy.
Origin:
1950s: from (ph)thal(ic acid) + (im)ido + (i)mide
thalidomide in other Oxford dictionaries
Definition of thalidomide in the US English dictionary
