treatment
Americannoun
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an act or manner of treating.
- Synonyms:
- approach, conduct, management, handling
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action or behavior toward a person, animal, etc.
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management in the application of medicines, surgery, etc.
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literary or artistic handling, especially with reference to style.
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subjection to some agent or action.
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Movies, Television. a preliminary outline of a film or teleplay laying out the key scenes, characters, and locales.
noun
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the application of medicines, surgery, psychotherapy, etc, to a patient or to a disease or symptom
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the manner of handling or dealing with a person or thing, as in a literary or artistic work
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the act, practice, or manner of treating
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films an expansion of a script into sequence form, indicating camera angles, dialogue, etc
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slang the usual manner of dealing with a particular type of person (esp in the phrase give someone the ( full ) treatment )
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of treatment
Explanation
Treatment has to do with how someone or something is managed or handled. Hopefully you get the royal treatment when you choose the deluxe pedicure treatment! You know how some people treat you with respect but others don't treat you so nicely? You can refer to how people act toward you as treatment. If a restaurant is known for rude treatment of customers, people will stop going there. Doctors also use the word treatment when they discuss a particular medical course of action — such as chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer. The root word is the Latin tractare, which originally meant "drag about," but came to mean "manage, handle, or deal with."
Vocabulary lists containing treatment
Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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"Water at Work"
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Lessons 4–5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As the disease advances, the risks of hospitalization, cardiovascular complications, and death rise sharply, making early and effective treatment increasingly important.
From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026
During the sentencing hearing, Judge William Mousley KC said the pathology evidence had shown that Nowak would not have survived, "however quickly he received first aid, CPR or expert medical treatment".
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
Nurix said Monday that it had struck a licensing and collaboration deal with the Swiss pharma giant to develop bexobrutideg, an oral treatment for various types of blood cancers.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
Patients who received finerenone in addition to standard treatment experienced a significantly slower decline in kidney function compared with those receiving standard care alone.
From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026
On January 4, I’ll be running in the Disney World Marathon in support of the Diabetes Action Team—a nonprofit organization committed to the prevention and treatment of diabetes.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
