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medicine

American  
[med-uh-sin, med-suhn] / ˈmɛd ə sɪn, ˈmɛd sən /

noun

  1. any substance or substances used in treating disease or illness; medicament; remedy.

    Synonyms:
    physic, pharmaceutical, drug, medication
  2. the art or science of restoring or preserving health or due physical condition, as by means of drugs, surgical operations or appliances, or manipulations: often divided into medicine proper, surgery, and obstetrics.

  3. the art or science of treating disease with drugs or curative substances, as distinguished from surgery and obstetrics.

  4. the medical profession.

  5. (among North American Indians) any object or practice regarded as having magical powers.


verb (used with object)

medicined, medicining
  1. to administer medicine to.

idioms

  1. give someone a dose / taste of his / her own medicine, to repay or punish a person for an injury by use of the offender's own methods.

  2. take one's medicine, to undergo or accept punishment, especially deserved punishment.

    He took his medicine like a man.

medicine British  
/ ˈmɛdsɪn, ˈmɛdɪsɪn /

noun

  1. any drug or remedy for use in treating, preventing, or alleviating the symptoms of disease

  2. the science of preventing, diagnosing, alleviating, or curing disease

  3. any nonsurgical branch of medical science

  4. the practice or profession of medicine

    he's in medicine

  5. something regarded by primitive people as having magical or remedial properties

  6. to accept a deserved punishment

  7. an unpleasant experience in retaliation for and by similar methods to an unkind or aggressive act

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

medicine Scientific  
/ mĕdĭ-sĭn /
  1. The scientific study or practice of diagnosing, treating, and preventing diseases or disorders of the body or mind of a person or animal.

  2. An agent, such as a drug, used to treat disease or injury.


medicine More Idioms  

Other Word Forms

  • antimedicine adjective
  • supermedicine noun

Etymology

Origin of medicine

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English medicin, from Latin medicīna (ars) “healing (art),” feminine of medicīnus “pertaining to a physician,” from medic(us) “physician” ( medical ) + -īnus -ine 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Obesity is a complex, chronic disease with serious health consequences. These medicines are highly effective and are helping many people," Ariaee says.

From Science Daily

While GLP-1s have undergone extensive human trials and are licensed by the MHRA, the UK's medicines watchdog, there is a "grey market" of other peptides emerging.

From BBC

Benson also offers appointments of up to an hour and says she has more freedom to practise lifestyle medicine, looking at underlying causes and sometimes deprescribing.

From BBC

Their goal is to move closer to a future in which familiar compounds help guide advanced precision medicine.

From Science Daily

As Clemons explains, "Evolution is powerful, and in bacteria, resistance to antibiotics develops quickly. This means that we now deal with bacteria that are resistant to all the medicines that we have."

From Science Daily