Pharmacology. a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being.
(in federal law)
any substance recognized in the official pharmacopoeia or formulary of the nation.
any substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in humans or other animals.
any article, other than food, intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or other animals.
any substance intended for use as a component of such a drug, but not a device or a part of a device.
a habit-forming medicinal or illicit substance, especially a narcotic.
drugs,
chemical substances prepared and sold as pharmaceutical items, either by prescription or over the counter.
personal hygienic items sold in a drugstore, as toothpaste, mouthwash, etc.
Obsolete. any ingredient used in chemistry, pharmacy, dyeing, or the like.
to administer a medicinal drug to.
to stupefy or poison with a drug.
to mix (food or drink) with a drug, especially a stupefying, narcotic, or poisonous drug.
to administer anything nauseous to.
any synthetic, semisynthetic, or natural chemical substance used in the treatment, prevention, or diagnosis of disease, or for other medical reasons
a chemical substance, esp a narcotic, taken for the pleasant effects it produces
a commodity available in excess of the demands of the market
to mix a drug with (food, drink, etc)
to administer a drug to
to stupefy or poison with or as if with a drug
A chemical substance, especially one prescribed by a medical provider, that is used in the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of a condition or disease. Drugs are prescribed for a limited amount of time, as for an acute infection, or on a regular basis for chronic disorders, such as hypertension.
A chemical substance such as a narcotic or a hallucinogen that affects the central nervous system and is used recreationally for perceived desirable effects on personality, perception, or behavior. Many recreational drugs are used illicitly and can be addictive.
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English drogges (plural), from Middle French drogue, of obscure origin
From the Avestan word drauga
A drug is a medicine. Before you travel to India, your doctor may prescribe a drug to protect you from getting malaria. A substance that makes a change in your body is a drug. Most often, a drug is medicine prescribed by a doctor to protect a patient from illness, cure them, or relieve their pain. Drug also means an illegal substance taken simply for the way it makes the user feel. Drug is also a verb that describes both taking illegal drugs and giving someone a drug secretly, such as slipping it into their food or drink.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
AI is important in drug development, which entails large, expensive risks, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot says on a call with reporters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Shares in the company had slumped in early July after its new heart disease drug Wainua failed to meet targets, in a rare setback for the drugmaker.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Forte recently reported results of an early-stage clinical trial for the drug that showed a significant treatment benefit in skin condition vitiligo, building on data released last year for another study in celiac disease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
"Soriot stuck to full-year sales and profits guidance and reassuring updates on the drug development pipeline also helped to boost the shares," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
This stunning development reflects the dramatic increase in the number and race of those sent to prison for drug crimes.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
The panel recommendations are not binding, but the Food and Drug Administration historically has given them significant weight.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Investigators from the Food and Drug Administration announced over the weekend that iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms had tested positive for cyclospora but later retracted that statement saying it was a false positive.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
They all stand to benefit from a peptide boom if the Food and Drug Administration decides to reclassify seven peptides, allowing these products to be legally compounded.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Food and Drug and Administration said Wednesday it is investigating an additional cyclospora outbreak that the agency said has sickened at least 72 people.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Insecticide residues have been recovered from human milk in samples tested by Food and Drug Administration Scientists.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Soon it will increasingly help discover new knowledge—from discovering new drugs to cure a family member’s disease to finding new ways to improve your business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Mr. Garson makes the case that Dr. Snyder’s research into dopamine and mental illness “sculpted science’s overarching understanding of how such drugs work.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Almost half of all children living with HIV were not receiving these drugs last year, the report warned.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca on Monday said net profit rose in the second quarter, driven once again by strong growth in sales of its cancer drugs.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
He found that the peasants’ vocabulary didn’t even have a word for illicit drugs, which almost no one could afford anyway.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Had Raynella drugged him and staged an accident?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
"He arrived with brain trauma, sedated, drugged, breathing with a ventilator," Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2025
Mr. Olson was working at Fort Detrick and was unwittingly drugged with LSD in a CIA mind-control experiment that ended with him falling to his death from a New York hotel window.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 6, 2023
Death for the terminally ill can often be cruel and slow, physicians told the BBC, with the patient's final days spent slipping in and out of a drugged consciousness.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2023
Not everyone was attentive; one juror, as though poisoned by the numerous spring-fever yawns weighting the air, sat with drugged eyes and jaws so utterly ajar bees could have buzzed in and out.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
With her brown bobbed haircut and round sunglasses, Pelicot has become an international feminist symbol, inspiring a change to French rape laws and a public reckoning with the problem of drugging women.
From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026
If there is widespread dog drugging, I certainly didn’t find that or hear about it, and I asked some questions along those lines.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2024
This new information could prove to be especially useful to drug developers hoping to create a new cancer treatment by drugging this interaction.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2023
Masterson’s lawyer, Philip Cohen, told jurors in his opening statement this week that “there is no drugging charge,” The A.P. reported.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
Clarence wanted the little, clinging, adoring kind, who would put cracked ice on his forehead, and wish those bad saloonkeepers would stop drugging her dear big boy.
From The Heart of Rachael by Norris, Kathleen Thompson
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.
