I. drug 1 S2 W1 /drʌɡ/ BrE AmE 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)
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ 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 + NOUN
▪ 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.
■ adjectives
▪ 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.
■ COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say ' light drugs '. Say soft drugs .
Instead of 'heavy drugs', you usually say hard drugs .
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ medicine noun [uncountable and countable] a substance used for treating illness:
Certain medicines should not be taken with alcohol.
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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.
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The doctor gave him some pills.
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sleeping pills
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diet pills
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contraceptive pills
▪ tablet noun [countable] especially British English a small piece of solid medicine:
She's now on four tablets a day.
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a five-day course of tablets
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sleeping tablets
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anti-malaria tablets
▪ antibiotics/aspirin/codeine etc :
The doctor put him on a course of antibiotics.
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Why don’t you take some aspirin?
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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
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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
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antiseptic cream
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skin cream
▪ drug noun [countable] a medicine or a substance for making medicines:
a drug used to treat malaria
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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.
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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.
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She’s on medication (=taking medication) , having suffered from depression for a number of years.
II. drug 2 BrE AmE 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 SYN 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