drugs

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of drug.

   Pharmacists check that newly prescribed drugs won't interact dangerously.

   Several experimental drugs entered clinical trials this year.

   Note

   A regular plural that covers every kind of substance the singular does, from prescribed medicines to illegal recreational ones, so the surrounding words decide which is meant. Prescribed, experimental or over-the-counter drugs point to medicine. Drugs standing alone, as in someone being on drugs, usually means the psychoactive, illegal kind. In its broadest use, anything one is addicted to, it can even stretch to emotions or habits.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of drug.

   The poacher drugs the elephants so he can remove their tusks unharmed.

   Whenever the patient panics, the nurse quietly drugs him into calm.

   Note

   Here the verb nearly always has an object. Someone drugs a person, an animal, or the food or drink meant for them, usually without the victim's knowledge. Used without an object, it means prescribing drugs or, rarely, taking them. Do not connect it with the Southern US dialect use of drug as the past tense of drag. That drug has no -s form, because its present tense is drags.

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