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medicine/medical. general or local insensibility, as to pain and other sensation, induced by certain interventions or drugs to permit the performance of surgery or other painful procedures.
pathology. general loss of the senses of feeling, as pain, heat, cold, touch, and other less common varieties of sensation.
psychiatry. absence of sensation due to psychological processes, as in conversion disorders.
historical examples

wisdom cannot be imparted to children by parents under an anaesthesia that averts pain and suffering.
child versus parent stephen wise

in boston a monument has been erected to the discoverer of anaesthesia.
stories of georgia joel chandler harris

anaesthesia–it is well known that hypnotism may be used to render subjects insensible to pain.
complete hypnotism: mesmerism, mind-reading and spiritualism a. alpheus

rather than hurt her he found himself forced to the use of anaesthesia, which he hated.
mcteague frank norris

gradually he emerged from the misty regions of anaesthesia, and realized that he was on a stretcher, and being carried.
jimmie higgins upton sinclair

anaesthesia, in its present sense, is truly a modern discovery, which is to be credited to the united states.
an epitome of the history of medicine roswell park

tiger had taken over the anaesthesia, keeping the patient under as light a dosage of medication as was possible.
star surgeon alan nourse

they didn’t cut huge slices out of my hide without benefit of anaesthesia.
highways in hiding george oliver smith

hysterical women in the primary stage of anaesthesia, sometimes imagine themselves the victims of -ssault.
not guilty robert blatchford

one hour later they pulled my fangs without benefit of anaesthesia.
highways in hiding george oliver smith

noun
local or general loss of bodily sensation, esp of touch, as the result of nerve damage or other abnormality
loss of sensation, esp of pain, induced by drugs: called general anaesthesia when consciousness is lost and local anaesthesia when only a specific area of the body is involved
a general dullness or lack of feeling
noun
the usual us spelling of anaesthesia
n.

1721, “loss of feeling,” modern latin, from greek anaisthesia “want of feeling, lack of sensation (to pleasure or pain),” from an- “without” (see an- (1)) + aisthesis “feeling,” from pie root -au- “to perceive” (see audience). as “a procedure for the prevention of pain in surgical operations,” from 1846.
n.

alternative spelling of anaesthesia (q.v.). see ae.

anesthesia an·es·the·sia (ān’ĭs-thē’zhə)
n.

total or partial loss of sensation, especially tactile sensibility, induced by disease, injury, acupuncture, or an anesthetic.

local or general insensibility to pain with or without the loss of consciousness, induced by an anesthetic.

anesthesia
(ān’ĭs-thē’zhə)
total or partial loss of sensation to touch or pain, caused by nerve injury or disease, or induced intentionally, especially by the administration of anesthetic drugs, to provide medical treatment. the first public use of ether to anesthetize a patient in boston in 1846 initiated widespread acceptance of anesthetics in the western world for surgical procedures and obstetrics. general anesthesia, administered as inhalation or intravenous agents, acts primarily on the brain, resulting in a temporary loss of consciousness. regional or local anesthesia affects sensation in a specific anatomic area, and includes topical application of local anesthetics, blocking of peripheral nerves, spinal anesthesia, and epidural anesthesia, which is used commonly during childbirth.
anesthesia [(an-is-thee-zhuh)]

loss of sensation or consciousness. anesthesia can be induced by an anesthetic, by acupuncture, or as the result of injury or disease.