drug on the market

Idioms

A commodity whose supply greatly exceeds the demand for it. For example, Now that asbestos is considered dangerous, asbestos tile is a drug on the market. The use of the noun drug in the sense of “something overabundant” (as opposed to a medicine or narcotic) dates from the mid-1600s, but the first record of the full expression, put as drug in the market, dates only from the 1830s.

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.

True, retatrutide might soon be the most powerful “triple agonist” anti-obesity drug on the market.

From Slate • Jun. 23, 2026

Novartis and MMV are aiming to have the drug on the market in one to 1½ years.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 12, 2025

Biogen will be required to provide confirmatory evidence, from ongoing clinical research, to keep the drug on the market.

From New York Times • Apr. 25, 2023

Some Black health groups also supported keeping the drug on the market.

From Washington Post • Apr. 6, 2023

I could place out a thousand dimpled little girls with yellow hair, but a good live boy from nine to thirteen is a drug on the market.

From Dear Enemy by Webster, Jean

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023