drug
[noun]
Synonyms:
- medication, medicament, medicine, physic, poison, remedy
- dope (slang), narcotic, opiate, stimulant
[verb]
Synonyms:
- dose, administer a drug, dope (slang), medicate, treat
- knock out, anaesthetize, deaden, numb, poison, stupefy

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Related Words: cure, medicament, medication, medicine, physic, remedy, specific, simple

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English Thesaurus: medicine, pill, tablet, antibiotics/aspirin/codeine etc, capsule, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. drug¹ S2 W1 /drʌɡ/ noun [countable]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French; Origin: drogue]

1. an illegal substance such as marijuana or cocaine, which some people take in order to feel happy, relaxed, or excited:
A lot of young people start taking drugs at school.
She always looks as though she’s on drugs (=taking drugs).
Jimi Hendrix died of a drug overdose.

2. a medicine, or a substance for making medicines:
a drug used in the treatment of cancer
drug for
new drugs for AIDS-related conditions
Drugs prescribed (=ordered for people) by doctors can be extremely hazardous if used in the wrong way.
The big drug companies make huge profits.

3. a substance that people doing a sport sometimes take illegally to improve their performance:
She was banned from the Olympics after failing a drug test (=a test that shows if you have taken drugs).
performance-enhancing drugs

4. [usually singular] a substance such as tobacco, coffee, or alcohol, that makes you want more and more of it

5. be (like) a drug if an activity is like a drug, you enjoy it so much that you want to do it more and more:
Athletics is like a drug – it keeps dragging you back for more.
⇒ miracle drug at miracle(3)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. drug² verb (past tense and past participle drugged, present participle drugging) [transitive]

1. to give a person or animal a drug, especially in order to make them feel tired or go to sleep, or to make them perform well in a race:
Johnson drugged and attacked four women.
There was no evidence that the horse had been drugged.

2. to put drugs in someone’s food or drink in order to make them feel tired or go to sleep Synonym : spike:
The wine had been drugged.

3. be drugged up to the eyeballs especially British English to have taken a lot of illegal drugs, or to have been given a lot of medicine:
She was in pain, despite being drugged up to the eyeballs.
—drugged adjective

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

drug
noun
I. substance used as a medicine
ADJ. powerful, strong | modern, new | wonder They're hailing it as the new wonder drug.
sedative | anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-malarial, etc. | prescription You used to be able to buy this medicine over the counter, but it is now a prescription drug.
QUANT. course, dose
VERB + DRUG be on, take Are you taking any other drugs at present?
prescribe (sb), put sb on The doctor put me on anti-inflammatory drugs.
give sb, treat sb with | administer, give sb The nurses came round to give the patients their drugs.
develop new drugs that have been developed recently
be resistant to, not respond to Some infections are now resistant to drugs.
DRUG + VERB cure sth, help sth, treat sth drugs that help the growth of skin tissue
DRUG + NOUN company
PREP. ~ against a powerful drug against tuberculosis
~ for He's taking drugs for depression.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drug
II. illegal substance
ADJ. illegal | addictive, hallucinogenic | dangerous, hard heroin and other hard drugs
soft (= not considered very dangerous) Many addicts start on soft drugs, such as cannabis.
designer (= artificially produced) She took a tablet of the designer drug Ecstasy.
VERB + DRUG inject (See note for more verbs.)
DRUG + NOUN baron, pusher | cartel | misuse | drug/drugs charges, offence | squad | war the latest moves in the drug war (See note for more nouns.)
PHRASES drink and drugs the dangers of drink and drugs

NOTE illegal drugs

do (informal), experiment with, take, try, use ~    The minister confessed to having experimented with cannabis in her youth. be/get high on ~    They committed the crime while high on drugs. be addicted to, be dependent on, be/get hooked on, be on (informal) ~    He seemed to be on acid most of the time. be/come off ~    He's tried several times to come off cocaine. possess ~    arrested on charges of possessing narcotics deal (in), sell, smuggle, supply, traffic (in) ~    The country imposes the death penalty for trafficking in marijuana. seize ~    The heroin seized has an estimated street value of £600 000. ~ abuse, addiction, consumption, use    Cannabis consumption has increased sharply. ~ habit, problem    She allegedly has a $500-a-day coke habit. ~ overdose    Heroin overdose is a major cause of death among heroin users. ~ addict, user ~ dealer, trafficker, smuggler ~ production, smuggling, trade, trafficking    The authorities have been accused of active involvement in the narcotics trade. addiction to, dependence on, use of ~    the use of cocaine trade in ~    measures to combat the trade in narcotics

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drug

take/use drugs
I think I took drugs to escape my problems.
do drugs informal (=take drugs)
All my friends were doing drugs.
be on drugs (=take drugs regularly)
It can be very hard to tell if your teenager is on drugs.
be addicted to drugs/dependent on drugs (=be unable to stop taking drugs)
People who are addicted to drugs need help.
be/get hooked on drugs informal (=be/get addicted)
She got hooked on drugs, and ended up homeless.
experiment with drugs (=try taking drugs)
She admitted that she had experimented with drugs.
come off/get off drugs (=stop taking drugs permanently)
It was years before I was able to come off drugs.
deal (in) drugs (also supply drugs formal) (=sell drugs)
He’s in jail for dealing drugs.
inject drugs (=use a needle to put drugs into your body)
People who share equipment for injecting drugs are at risk of contracting HIV.
be high on drugs (=be experiencing the effects of a drug)
He committed the crime while he was high on drugs.
drug use/abuse (=taking drugs)
She is being treated for drug abuse.
a drug user (=someone who takes drugs)
We set up a counselling service for drug users.
drug addiction (=the problem of not being able to stop taking drugs)
his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction
a drug addict (=someone who cannot stop taking drugs)
At 20 Steve was a drug addict, unemployed and lonely.
a drug problem (=the problem of being addicted to drugs)
His daughter has a drug problem.
a drug overdose (=taking too much of a drug at one time)
She died from a drug overdose.
a drug dealer/pusher (=someone who sells drugs)
The city's streets are full of drug dealers.
a drug trafficker/smuggler (=someone involved in bringing drugs into a country)
US efforts against drug traffickers
drug trafficking/smuggling (=the crime of bringing drugs into a country)
The maximum penalty for drug smuggling was 25 years in jail.
the drug trade
the international drug trade
the war on drugs (=a long struggle by the authorities to control drugs)
The war on drugs continues.
a drug charge (=a legal accusation that someone is guilty of having or selling drugs)
He’s awaiting trial on a drug charge.
a drug offence (=a crime related to having or selling drugs)
Luciani is serving 20 years for drug offences.
illegal drugs
A lot of crime is connected to illegal drugs.
hard drugs (also class A drugs British English) (=strong drugs such as heroin, cocaine etc)
He was in prison for dealing hard drugs.
soft drugs (=less strong drugs such as marijuana)
Soft drugs are legal in some countries.
recreational drugs (=taken for pleasure)
Ecstasy was first used in Britain as a recreational drug in the 1980s.
designer drugs (=produced artificially from chemicals)
Designer drugs are highly addictive and can have unpredictable side effects.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

medicine noun [uncountable and countable] a substance used for treating illness:
Certain medicines should not be taken with alcohol.
Has he taken his medicine?
pill noun [countable] a small piece of medicine that you swallow:
She managed to swallow the pill with a sip of water.
The doctor gave him some pills.
sleeping pills
diet pills
contraceptive pills
tablet noun [countable] especially British English a small piece of solid medicine:
She's now on four tablets a day.
a five-day course of tablets
sleeping tablets
anti-malaria tablets
antibiotics/aspirin/codeine etc:
The doctor put him on a course of antibiotics.
Why don’t you take some aspirin?
The tablets contain codeine, which is unsuitable for people with asthma.
capsule noun [countable] a small tube-shaped container with medicine inside that you swallow whole:
a bottle of 500 capsules of vitamin C
I advised her to take four to six garlic capsules a day for the duration of the treatment.
caplet noun [countable] a small smooth pill that is slightly longer than it is wide - used especially on bottles and containers:
In small type, the consumer is warned not to take more than one caplet per day.
eye/ear drops liquid medicine that you put into your eye or ear:
Remember — if you 're using eye drops for your hay fever, leave your contact lenses out.
cream noun [uncountable and countable] especially British English (also lotion especially American English) a thick smooth substance containing medicine, that you put on your skin:
an antibiotic cream
antiseptic cream
skin cream
drug noun [countable] a medicine or a substance for making medicines:
a drug used to treat malaria
There are a wide range of different drugs on the market.
dosage noun [countable usually singular] the amount of medicine that you should take at one time:
The dosage should be reduced to 0.5 mg.
It’s important to get the dosage right.
medication noun [uncountable and countable] medicine or drugs given to someone who is ill:
He takes medication for his diabetes.
She’s on medication (=taking medication), having suffered from depression for a number of years.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲