antidote
Americannoun
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a medicine or other remedy for counteracting the effects of poison, disease, etc.
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something that prevents or counteracts injurious or unwanted effects.
Good jobs are the best antidote to teenage crime.
verb (used with object)
noun
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med a drug or agent that counteracts or neutralizes the effects of a poison
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anything that counteracts or relieves a harmful or unwanted condition; remedy
Other Word Forms
- antidotal adjective
- antidotally adverb
- antidotical adjective
- antidotically adverb
Etymology
Origin of antidote
1400–50; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Latin antidotum < Greek antídoton something given against (i.e., for counteracting), equivalent to anti- anti- + dotón neuter of dotós given, verbid of didónai to give; akin to datum
Compare meaning
How does antidote compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
That is more than twice the share who identified price increases, marketing spending, or mergers and acquisitions to boost profitability as the antidote to uncertainty.
From Barron's
For the past five years, The Liana Trust has been studying venoms from species beyond the big four to develop antidotes to them.
From BBC
“What if it’s true? That potion—you could take the antidote! You could know all the secrets of the universe! You could remember everything, forever!”
From Literature
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His show provided an antidote to the chilly Parisian air, with Middle Eastern warmth recreated through a colour palette of blush pinks, bronzes and desert tones.
From BBC
Those who never would might draw solace from this tiniest dose of that antidote to evil called hope, and its evidence that basic goodness still endures.
From Salon
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.