pharmacy
Americannoun
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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:
PantheRx Rare, based in Pittsburgh, is a pharmacy that focuses on rare and orphan diseases, helping to provide medications and personalized care.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
According to both Miller and Han, improving education at every step of the prescribing process, from the doctor's office to the pharmacy counter, could help prevent many of these medication errors.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
Ashley Turner resides in Visalia, where she’s working as a pharmacy technician.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
A survey of 167 users by Zava, an online doctor and pharmacy service that sells weight-loss drugs, found the number one reason people stopped taking their medication was cost.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
He was, after all, a physician, and his building had a pharmacy on the ground floor.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
A Lilly spokesperson said “we expect momentum to build as physicians, pharmacies, and patients learn more about Foundayo.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
At the time, care homes, GP surgeries and pharmacies were all expected to source their own PPE, something the report described as a "major failure in planning".
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The findings added to the concerns that some critics have raised about compounding pharmacies and telehealth companies, which they say are too quick to prescribe.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
Telehealth companies are already building infrastructure for a future where compounding pharmacies can safely provide experimental peptides.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Baba and Rahim Khan built a wildly successful carpet-exporting business, two pharmacies, and a restaurant.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
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.
