What does "drug" mean?
A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose.
Drug
noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·1 syllable ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose.
- Grammar: drug is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: administer, administer pharmacologic agent, adrenalin, alkaloid.
- Useful contrasts: approved drug, awaken, legal drug.
- Usage evidence: The convicted drug dealer was willing to comply with the authorities to have his death sentence reduced to a life sentence.
How to use "drug"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "drug" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "drug" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "drug" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "drug" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "drug" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "administer" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "drug", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose.
"Aspirin is a drug that reduces pain, acts against inflammation and lowers body temperature."
- 2 A drudge. obsolete
"Hadst thou, like us from our first swath, proceeded / The sweet degrees that this brief world affords / To such as may the passive drugs of it / Freely command, thou wouldst have plunged thyself / In general riot"
- 3 a substance that is used as a medicine or narcotic wordnet
- 4 A psychoactive substance, especially one which is illegal and addictive, ingested for recreational use, such as cocaine.
"We took drugs and partied all night."
- 5 Anything, such as a substance, emotion, or action, to which one is addicted. broadly
"Oh, get that buzz / Love is the drug / I'm thinking of"
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Any commodity that lies on hand, or is not salable; an article of slow sale, or in no demand.
"And virtue shall a drug become."
- 7 Ellipsis of drugstore. Canada, US, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, informal
"“I’ll go this far,” I answered him. “We’ll try going over to the drug. You, me, Ollie if he wants to go, one or two others. Then we’ll talk it over again.”"
Verb
- 1 To administer intoxicating drugs to, generally without the recipient's knowledge or consent. transitive
"She suddenly felt strange, and only then realized she'd been drugged."
- 2 simple past and past participle of drag Southern-US, dialectal, form-of, participle, past
"You look like someone drug you behind a horse for half a mile."
- 3 administer a drug to wordnet
- 4 To add intoxicating drugs to with the intention of drugging someone. transitive
"She suddenly felt strange. She realized her drink must have been drugged."
- 5 use recreational drugs wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To prescribe or administer drugs or medicines. intransitive
"Past all the doses of your drugging doctors"
- 7 To use intoxicating drugs. intransitive, rare
"To soften the blow from working in such unfamiliar territory, I drank and drugged at the end of the day."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The convicted drug dealer was willing to comply with the authorities to have his death sentence reduced to a life sentence."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "drug"?
Common synonyms include: administer, administer pharmacologic agent, adrenalin, alkaloid, aloes, ammonium carbonate.
How do you use "drug" in a sentence?
The convicted drug dealer was willing to comply with the authorities to have his death sentence reduced to a life sentence.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English drogge (“medicine”), from Middle French drogue, drocque (“tincture, pharmaceutical product”) (c. 1462), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German droge, as in droge vate (“dry vats, dry barrels”), mistaking droge for the contents, which were usually dried herbs, plants or wares. Droge comes from Middle Dutch drōghe (“dry”), from Old Dutch drōgi (“dry”), from Proto-Germanic *draugiz (“dry, hard”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- (“to strengthen; become hard or solid”), from *dʰer- (“to hold, hold fast, support”). Cognate with English dry, Dutch droog (“dry”), German trocken (“dry”).
Etymology 2
Germanic ablaut formation. If old, a doublet of drew, from Middle English drug, drog, drugh, drogh, from Old English drōg, from Proto-Germanic *drōg; compare Dutch droeg, German trug, Swedish drog. If secondary, probably formed by analogy with hang.