An antibiotic prescribed for treatement of lower respiratory, middle ear, sinus, skin, and urinary tract infections. The generic ingredients (for those do it yourself types) are Amoxicillin and Clavulanate potassium.

If you're bitten by a cat and you get an infection (and you probably will) this is most likely the drug that will be prescribed to you.

The clavulanic acid in augmentin works to enhance the action of the amoxicillin by inhibiting the action of bacterial penicillinase.

This rather successful (until antibiotic resistance to it starts getting out of hand) antibiotic thus capitalises on throwing in an agent that inhibits the bacterial adaptation to become resistant to penicillin (of which amoxicillin is a form of), raising the bar for the antibiotic arms war, so as to speak.