DRUG

drug

(noun) a substance that is used as a medicine or narcotic

drug, dose

(verb) administer a drug to; “They drugged the kidnapped tourist”

drug, do drugs

(verb) use recreational drugs

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

drug (plural drugs)

(pharmacology) A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose.

A psychoactive substance, especially one which is illegal and addictive, ingested for recreational use, such as cocaine.

Anything, such as a substance, emotion, or action, to which one is addicted.

Any commodity that lies on hand, or is not salable; an article of slow sale, or in no demand.

Usage notes

• Adjectives often used with "drug": dangerous, illicit, illegal, psychoactive, generic, hard, veterinary, recreational

Synonyms

See pharmaceutical, recreational drug

Verb

drug (third-person singular simple present drugs, present participle drugging, simple past and past participle drugged)

(transitive) To administer intoxicating drugs to, generally without the recipient's knowledge or consent.

(transitive) To add intoxicating drugs to with the intention of drugging someone.

(intransitive) To prescribe or administer drugs or medicines.

Etymology 2

Verb

drug

(dialect) simple past tense and past participle of drag

Usage notes

• Random House says that drug is "nonstandard" as the past tense of drag. Merriam-Webster once ruled that drug in this construction was "illiterate" but have since upgraded it to "dialect". The lexicographers of New World, American Heritage, and Oxford make no mention of this sense.

Etymology 3

Noun

drug (plural drugs)

(obsolete) A drudge.

Source: Wiktionary


Drug, v. i. Etym: [See 1st Drudge.]

Definition: To drudge; to toil laboriously. [Obs.] "To drugge and draw." Chaucer.

Drug, n.

Definition: A drudge. Shak. (Timon iv. 3, 253).

Drug, n. Etym: [F. drogue, prob. fr. D. droog; akin to E. dry; thus orig., dry substance, hers, plants, or wares. See Dry.]

1. Any animal, vegetable, or mineral substance used in the composition of medicines; any stuff used in dyeing or in chemical operations. Whence merchants bring Their spicy drugs. Milton.

2. Any commodity that lies on hand, or is not salable; an article of slow sale, or in no demand. "But sermons are mere drugs." Fielding. And virtue shall a drug become. Dryden.

Drug, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drugged; p. pr. & vb. n. Drugging.] Etym: [Cf. F. droguer.]

Definition: To prescribe or administer drugs or medicines. B. Jonson.

Drug, v. t.

1. To affect or season with drugs or ingredients; esp., to stupefy by a narcotic drug. Also Fig. The laboring masses . . . [were] drugged into brutish good humor by a vast system of public spectacles. C. Kingsley. Drug thy memories, lest thou learn it. Tennyson.

2. To tincture with something offensive or injurious. Drugged as oft, With hatefullest disrelish writhed their jaws. Milton.

3. To dose to excess with, or as with, drugs. With pleasure drugged, he almost longed for woe. Byron.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 April 2025

WHOLE

(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”


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Coffee Trivia

Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world. Each year Brazil exports more than 44 million bags of coffee. Vietnam follows at exporting over 27 million bags each year.

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