yellow jacket
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
A capsule of pentobarbital sodium (or sometimes other barbiturates), especially when used as a recreational drug.
Register: slang
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Examples
Nearly every pharmaceutical house has its own brands, sold in tablets, solutions or brightly-colored capsules, on which its “detail men” keep doctors informed. Probably the most popular successors to Veronal are Seconal (“red birds” to the bootleg trade) and Nembutal (“yellow jackets”).
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “yellow jacket” mean?
A capsule of pentobarbital sodium (or sometimes other barbiturates), especially when used as a recreational drug.
Is “yellow jacket” formal or informal?
yellow jacket is generally slang.