drug

A2 Topic:Materials & Substances

US /ˈdrʌg/ UK /dɹʌɡ/ See IPA manual

Freq #1383

Meanings

1

noun
An illegal substance taken for pleasure that can be addictive, such as cocaine.

The police arrested him for selling drugs.
2

noun
A medicine used to treat illness or relieve pain.

Aspirin is a drug that reduces pain and lowers fever.
3

verb
To give someone drugs, especially secretly, to make them sleepy or unconscious.

She felt strange and realized her drink had been drugged.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an illegal substance taken... dope stuff substance

2 noun · a medicine used to treat... medication medicine medicament pharmaceutical

3 verb · to give someone drugs,... dose

Word family

Forms druggeddruggingdrugs

Derived forms antidrugbedrugcodrugcounterdrugdrug-addleddrug-dealerdrug-fienddrug-freedrug-naivedrug-riddendrugabilitydrugbuster

Appears in

Phrases (11)

See all

antibacterial drug
a medicine that kills bacteria or prevents them from multiplying

Adjective + noun
anticancer drug
a medicine used to treat cancer

Adjective + noun
diuretic drug
a medicine that increases urine production and the loss of water from the body

Adjective + noun
drug abuse
harmful or excessive use of drugs

Noun + noun
drug addict
a person who has become dependent on drugs and struggles to stop using them

Noun + noun
drug bust
an informal term for a police operation that seizes illegal drugs

Noun + noun

Etymology

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”). Cognate with English dry, Dutch droog (“dry”), Germa…

drogge Middle English drogue Middle French droge gml droghe Middle Dutch drōgi odt *draugiz Proto-Germanic *dʰerǵʰ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# drug

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈdrʌg/
**IPA (UK):** /dɹʌɡ/
**Frequency rank:** 1383

## Meanings
1. An illegal substance taken for pleasure that can be addictive, such as cocaine.
2. A medicine used to treat illness or relieve pain.
3. To give someone drugs, especially secretly, to make them sleepy or unconscious.

## Examples
- The police arrested him for selling drugs.
- Aspirin is a drug that reduces pain and lowers fever.
- She felt strange and realized her drink had been drugged.

## Derived Forms
- antidrug
- bedrug
- codrug
- counterdrug
- drug-addled
- drug-dealer
- drug-fiend
- drug-free
- drug-naive
- drug-ridden
- drugability
- drugbuster

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: drogge
- Root: drogue
- Root: droge
- Root: droghe
- Root: drōgi
- Root: *draugiz
- Root: *dʰerǵʰ-

## Etymology
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”). Cognate with English dry, Dutch droog (“dry”), Germa…

## AI Etymology
Drug comes 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”).

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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