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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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for November 13–November 19, 2021
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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:
Irvine, a pharmacy manager in Belfast, said much of the time with HRT medications, women often become comfortable with a particular brand.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Revenue for Optum, its pharmacy benefit manager and medical provider, came in lower than the FactSet estimate; however, its third-quarter revenue was largely driven by a steady performance from UnitedHealthcare, its health-insurance business.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Location, location, location Living somewhere that won’t leave you stranded in a crisis—walking distance to a food store, pharmacy or ER—is smart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The Weston family owns the Canadian grocery chain Loblaws, pharmacy business Shoppers Drug Mart, and previously owned the London department store Selfridges, which it sold in 2022 for $4bn.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Instead, she handed me a card with the name of the pharmacy I always went to in Salcedo; her own name was written on the back.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Workshops were held, resources distributed and support offered through GPs, pharmacies, libraries and community hubs.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Compounding pharmacies are pharmacies, you can’t get a drug without a prescription, certainly not a sterile injectable drug.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026
In a statement, NHS Grampian said it expects increased demand on its services over the coming days, with many GPs and pharmacies closed for a local public holiday on Monday.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Like most doctors, he only prescribes brand-name GLP-1s made by Eli Lilly and Novo rather than the compounded, copies versions made by special pharmacies and commonly sold by telehealth companies and med spas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 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.
