- drug
- noun1 substance used as a medicineADJECTIVE▪ powerful, strong▪ effective▪ safe▪ modern, new▪ wonder▪
They're hailing it as the new wonder drug.
▪ anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-malarial, antiviral, etc.▪ sedative▪ psychoactive▪More and more children are being prescribed psychoactive drugs.
▪ prescription▪You used to be able to buy this medicine over the counter, but it is now a prescription drug.
▪ non-prescription, over-the-counter▪ generic▪We want to make it possible for African companies to produce cheaper generic drugs.
▪ brand-name (esp. AmE)▪ performance-enhancing▪an athlete who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs
… OF DRUG▪ course, doseVERB + DRUG▪ be on, take▪Are you taking any other drugs at present?
▪ prescribe (sb), put sb on▪The doctor put me on anti-inflammatory drugs.
▪ give sb, treat sb with▪ administer, give sb▪The nurses came around to give the patients their drugs.
▪ develop, manufacture, produce▪new drugs that have been developed recently
▪ market▪ test▪ approve▪Some veterinary drugs are not approved for use in food-producing animals.
▪ be resistant to, not respond to▪Some infections are now resistant to drugs.
DRUG + VERB▪ cure sth, help sth, treat sth▪drugs that help the growth of skin tissue
DRUG + NOUN▪ company▪ prices▪Prescription drug prices rose.
PREPOSITION▪ drug against▪a powerful drug against tuberculosis
▪ drug for▪He's taking drugs for depression.
2 illegal substanceADJECTIVE▪ illegal, illicit▪ addictive▪ hallucinogenic, mood-altering, psychoactive, psychotropic▪ class A, dangerous, hard▪heroin and other hard drugs
▪ soft▪Some addicts start on soft drugs.
▪ designer (= artificially produced)▪She had taken a new designer drug.
▪ recreational▪They had a liberal attitude to recreational drugs.
VERB + DRUG▪ inject (See note for more verbs.)DRUG + NOUN▪ baron, kingpin (esp. AmE), lord▪ pusher▪ cartel▪ misuse▪ screening, testing▪Some workplaces have introduced mandatory drug screening.
▪ drug offense (AmE), drugs offence (BrE)▪ drug charge (esp. AmE), drugs charge (BrE)▪ sentencing (esp. AmE)▪a review of the drug sentencing laws to make penalties harsher
▪ drug squad, drugs squad (both BrE)▪ drug czar (AmE), drugs tsar (BrE)▪The new federal drug czar claimed the nation was winning the war on drugs.
▪the government's former drugs tsar
▪ war▪the latest moves in the drug war
(See note for more nouns.)PHRASES▪ drink and drugs (BrE), drugs and alcohol (esp. AmE)▪the dangers of drugs and alcohol
◆◆◆NOTE: Illegal drugs▪ do … (informal), experiment with … , take … , try … , use …▪She confessed to having experimented with drugs in her youth.
▪ be/get high on …▪They committed the crime while high on drugs.
▪ be addicted to … , be dependent on … , be/get hooked on … (informal)▪bodybuilders who are addicted to steroids
▪ be on … (informal)▪He seemed to be on acid most of the time.
▪ be off … , come off …▪He's tried several times to come off cocaine.
▪ possess …▪She was arrested on charges of possessing narcotics.
▪ deal … , deal in … , sell … , smuggle … , supply … , traffic … , traffic in …▪The country imposes the death penalty for trafficking in marijuana.
▪ seize …▪The heroin seized has an estimated street value of £600 000.
▪ … abuse, … addiction, … consumption, … use▪Heroin abuse has increased sharply.
▪ … habit (informal), … problem▪She allegedly has a $500-a-day coke habit.
▪ … overdose▪Heroin overdose is a major cause of death among users.
▪ … addict, … user▪heroin users
▪ … dealer, … trafficker, … smuggler▪a cocaine dealer
▪ … production, … smuggling, … trade, … trafficking▪The authorities have been accused of active involvement in the narcotics trade.
▪ abuse of … , addiction to … , dependence on … , use of …▪the use of cocaine
▪ trade in …▪measures to combat the trade in narcotics
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
