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.

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

The change benefited just one drug on the market at the time: Exparel, made by Pacira.

From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2023

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

From Washington Post • Apr. 6, 2023

If approved, it would be the second anti-amyloid drug on the market.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 29, 2022

Crude metals were such a drug on the market that the coinage of free silver was suggested as a panacea.

From The Canadian Commonwealth by Laut, Agnes C. (Agnes Christina)

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