pharmacy
Americannoun
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pharmacies
plural
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Also called pharmaceutics. the art and science of preparing and dispensing drugs and medicines.
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a drugstore.
noun
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Also called: pharmaceutics. the practice or art of preparing and dispensing drugs
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a dispensary
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pharmacy
1645–55; earlier pharmacia < Medieval Latin < Greek pharmakeía druggist's work. See pharmaco-, -y 3
Explanation
A pharmacy is where you go when you need to fill a prescription for medicine. Hospitals have pharmacies, but you can also find retail pharmacies in most cities and towns. The technique of making medicine and dispensing it is also known as pharmacy, and people who practice this kind of science are pharmacists. If your doctor diagnoses an infection, it's your friendly neighborhood pharmacist who measures your antibiotics, packages them for you, and instructs you on how much and how often to take them. The Greek root is pharmakeia, which means "medicines or cure," but also "witchcraft, spells, or potions."
Vocabulary lists containing pharmacy
Unit 4
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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.
See Examples For:
McGinty, a pharmacy student at Queen's University Belfast, said her mum, who has sciatica, had been in a lot of pain while they waited for several hours following delays at the airport.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
In some markets, the retailer’s insurance products will integrate pharmacy, vision and hearing benefits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Bigelow, a Greenwich Village pharmacy that made the plastic headbands Bessette was so fond of, reported a 500% sales increase since 2023, and Selima Optique have rereleased the style Bessette wore because of popular demand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Sovaldi was a truly amazing breakthrough, and we want the biotech and pharmacy industry to continue its impressive track record of pursuing innovative new therapeutics.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
“Capreo” now cost just 98 cents a vial, compared to the $29 a vial that the Brigham pharmacy once quoted Farmer.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
From the first hint of cold winter mornings, supermarkets and pharmacies begin heavy marketing to coax us to stock up on vitamin C to get through the cold and flu season.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
Most, like me, had bought theirs through private pharmacies after conversations with friends or family, but hadn't told many people they were doing it.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Eli Lilly is suing six pharmacies alleging that they are selling illegal versions of retatrutide, its still-experimental but highly anticipated weight-loss shot.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
A few months ago, suppliers had offered pharmacies around 200 pairs each, enough to equip about four million people, he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
“I had to go to three different pharmacies to find one of these.”
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
