drug.
A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose.
Meaning & usage
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.
The revenues from both brand-name drugs and generic drugs have increased.
A psychoactive substance, especially one which is illegal and addictive, ingested for recreational use, such as cocaine.
We took drugs and partied all night.
They're on drugs.
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.
Ellipsis of drugstore.
Where this word comes from
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 *dʰerǵʰ- (“to strengthen; become hard or solid”), from *dʰer- (“to hold, hold fast, support”). Displaced native Old English lybb (“drug, medicine”). Cognate with English dry, Dutch droog (“dry”), German trocken (“dry”).
To administer intoxicating drugs to, generally without the recipient's knowledge or consent.
She suddenly felt strange, and only then realized she'd been drugged.
To add intoxicating drugs to with the intention of drugging someone.
She suddenly felt strange. She realized her drink must have been drugged.
To prescribe or administer drugs or medicines.
To use intoxicating drugs.
Where this word comes from
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 *dʰerǵʰ- (“to strengthen; become hard or solid”), from *dʰer- (“to hold, hold fast, support”). Displaced native Old English lybb (“drug, medicine”). Cognate with English dry, Dutch droog (“dry”), German trocken (“dry”).
A drudge.
simple past and past participle of drag
You look like someone drug you behind a horse for half a mile.
look what the cat drug in
Where this word comes from
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 dug.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.