▪ I. drug, n.1
(drʌg)
Forms: (pl.) (4 dragges), 4–6 drogges, drouges, 6 drougges, Sc. droggis, drogis, droigis, 6–7 drugges, 7 drogues, drougs, 8 druggs, 8–9 Sc. drogs, 7– drugs; (sing.) 6–7 drugge, 7 drogue, 7– drug.
[ME. a. F. drogue (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.) a Com. Rom. word (Pr. drogua, Sp., It. droga): ulterior origin uncertain.
The suggestion of Diez, that the source is Du. droog, MDu. droge, drooch, Kilian droogh ‘dry’, is doubted by Kluge and Franck. In 14–15th c. there is scribal confusion in Eng. MSS. between drogge and dragge = dredge n.2]
1. a. An original, simple, medicinal substance, organic or inorganic, whether used by itself in its natural condition or prepared by art, or as an ingredient in a medicine or medicament. Formerly used more widely to include all ingredients used in chemistry, pharmacy, dyeing, and the arts generally, as still in French. In early use always in the pl.: cf. spices. (So in Fr.)
| [1327 Close Roll, 1 Edw. III, i. mem. 23 Novem balas de drogges de spicerie.] 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 173 And dryuen awey deth with dyas and dragges [v.r. drogges; C. xxiii. 174 drogges, v.rr. drouges, dragges]. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 428 Apothecaries To sende him drogges [3 MSS. drugges, Harl. dragges]. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xix. 614 By cause of stronge drouges [(1495) printed dreuges]. 1513 Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 144 Hailsum of smell as ony spicery, Tryakle, droggis, or electuary. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. viii. (1539) 22 b, The traffyke of spyce and sondry drouges. 1555 Eden Decades 239 Apothecaries drugges. 1563 Winȝet Wks. (1890) II. 12 An apothecaris buyth ful of al kynd of droigis, bayth of delicat spycerie and of rady poysoun. 1577 Harrison England ii. xx. (1877) i. 327 Our continuall desire of strange drugs. 1611 Coryat Crudities 262 All the women of Venice..vse to annoint their haire with oyle, or some other drugs. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 3 Men talke of Catholicon the drugge that it is in stead of all purges. 1648 Gage West Ind. xvii. 113 Much Cacao, Achiotte, and drugs for Chocolatte..also Apothecary drugs, as Zarzaparilla. 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1750/4 Tea and other Drugs at reasonable rates. a 1704 T. Brown Sat. Quack Wks. 1730 I. 63 Thy druggs alone the fatal work had done. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., Drug, in commerce, a general name for all spices, and other commodities, brought from distant countries, and used in the business of medicine, dying, and the mechanic arts. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. i. xi. (1869) I. 215 Tea..was a drug very little used in Europe before the middle of the last century. 1842 Tennyson Two Voices 56 What drug can make A wither'd palsy cease to shake? |
b. spec. Now often applied without qualification to narcotics, opiates, hallucinogens, etc.,
esp. attrib. and
Comb., as
drug-abuse,
drug-addict,
drug-addiction,
drug-dependence,
drug-evil,
drug-fiend (
fiend 4 c),
drug-habit,
drug-peddler,
drug-peddling,
drug-pusher,
drug-pushing,
drug-taker,
drug-taking,
drug-traffic.
| 1883 W. Black Yolande II. xiv. 255 One of the results of using..those poisonous drugs, is that the will entirely goes. 1899 Chemist & Druggist LV. 1010/2 Defendant entered the house to be cured of the habit of taking drugs, and it was alleged that he had absented himself without leave, and obtained cocaine for injection. 1902 Daily Chron. 7 Nov. 5/6 Two remedies to the drug-evil were suggested by the Bishop of Kensington. 1905 Ibid. 2 May 5/7 The drug-taking Chilcote. 1906 R. Brooke Let. 3 Apr. (1968) 48, I have to read stealthily.., a practice akin to that of secret drug-taking. 1907 Daily Chron. 3 Sept. 7/7 A drug-taker appropriated a bottle of drugs from a Brighton chemist's shop. 1907 Chemist & Druggist LXX. 107/2 The drug habit. Mrs. Florence Iggulden..died last week from morphine-poisoning. 1916 Ibid. LXXXVIII. 19/1 Narcotic drug traffic. 1916 N.Y. Evening Post 7 Jan., The Drug Addict, the Physician, and the Law. 1917 Amer. Review of Reviews LVI. 435 (title) Drug Addiction and the Harrison Law. 1920 [see addict n.]. 1922 C. E. Montague Disenchantment xv. 199 Drunkards, thieves, liars, sorners, drug-takers. 1925 H. G. Wells Christina Alberta's Father i. vi. 156 Artists' models and drug-fiends. 1930 ‘E. Queen’ French Powder Mystery xxxviii. 313 A gang of drug-peddlers operating..in this city. 1945 R. Knox God & Atom ix. 127 If religion, as Lenin said, is the opium of the people, he himself has done his best to make drug-fiends of us all. 1949 E. Partridge in Good Housekeeping June 13/1 Some years ago, the League of Nations instituted an inquiry into the drug-traffic. 1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene 293 Entertainment, petty crime, prostitution, drug-pushing and the like. 1966 New Scientist 29 Dec. 713/1 The idea of an evil shadowy figure corrupting our youth by ‘pushing’ drugs is largely nonsense. Ibid., It is generally accepted that the addict is a psychopath before taking up the drug. 1967 E. & M. A. Radford No Reason for Murder xv. 105 How are we concerned? We've no case of drug peddling. 1967 Observer 10 Sept. 17/7 Areas of..drug-pushers, prostitution and delinquency. 1968 Listener 14 Nov. 639/1 Some drug dependences arise from medical causes, as with a diabetic who must have his insulin. 1970 Times 28 May 7/5 Pot-smoking is widespread in spite of dire warnings about the dangers of ‘drug abuse’ repeatedly broadcast by the armed forces radio. 1971 Time 7 June 54/3 The dream that drugs are a short cut to truth and beauty. |
2. A commodity which is no longer in demand, and so has lost its value or become unsaleable. (Now usually
a drug in (now freq. on) the market.) Also
transf. [It is questionable if this is the same word. Quot. 1760 implies it; but it may possibly be only a witty play on the word: see also Fuller's contrast of
drugs and
dainties.]
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies iv. (1662) 54 [He] made such a vent for Welsh Cottons, that what he found Drugs at home, he left Dainties beyond Sea. 1671 Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1711) 151 We might send our English Cloth, which now is grown a Drug. 1673 Temple Ess. Irel. Wks. 1731 I. 116 Horses in Ireland are a Drug, but might be improved to a Commodity. 1704 J. Logan in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 278 Wheat..bears no price, and bread and flour is a very drug. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. iv, I smil'd to my self at the Sight of this Money. O Drug! said I aloud, what art thou good for? 1760 Murphy Way to Keep Him 1, A wife's a drug now; mere tar-water, with every virtue under heaven, but nobody takes it. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. I. 211 They told me poetry was a mere drug; every body wrote poetry. 1833 Knickerbocker Mar. 157 Lace veils are a drug in the market. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 163 Quite a drug in the market. 1893 Funk's Stand. Dict. s.v., A drug on (or in) the market. 1921 Galsworthy To Let i. i. 10 Well, they wouldn't confiscate his pictures, for they wouldn't know their worth. But what would they be worth, if these maniacs once began to milk capital? A drug on the market. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 192 Genius would be a drug in the market. 1944 W. S. Maugham Razor's Edge iv. 125 He can't bear his feeling of being a drug on the market. |
3. Comb., as
drug-compounder,
drug-counter,
drug-grinder,
drug-house,
drug-jar,
drug-mill,
drug-pot,
drug-seller,
drug-shop,
drug-store,
drug-vase, etc.;
drug clerk U.S., an attendant in a drug-store;
drug culture, the subculture (sense 2) associated with and peopled by users of illegal drugs;
drug-fast a. [
fast a. 1 h]
= drug-resistant adj.; so
drug-fastness;
drug-induced a., (of a mental or physical condition) brought about by the taking of a drug or drugs;
drugman, a man who deals in drugs, an apothecary;
drug-resistant a., resisting the effects of a drug or drugs; so
drug-resistance,
drug-resisting adj.;
drug(s) squad, a division of a police force appointed to investigate crimes involving the taking of or trafficking in illegal narcotic and other drugs;
cf. narcotic(s) squad s.v. narcotic n.2| 1849 Whig Almanac 1850 25/1 A drug clerk at $1,000. a 1910 ‘O. Henry’ Rolling Stones (1916) 102 The drug clerk looks sharply at the white face half concealed by the high-turned overcoat collar. |
| 1842 Abdy Water Cure (1843) 162 The drug-compounder and the plaster-spreader. |
| 1959 Listener 30 July 173/1 Flaubert's drug-counters and the inexhaustible inventories of Zola. |
| [1968 W. Surface Poisoned Ivy 213 The drug phenomenon has produced a drug-oriented culture on the nation's campuses.] 1969 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 22 June 11/3 The phrase ‘turn on’ comes from the ‘drug culture’. 1982 Amer. Speech IV. 271 A large number of terms and meanings related to the drug culture have found their way into the general dictionaries. |
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. iv. 15 That Drug-damn'd Italy, hath out-craftied him. |
| 1926 Jrnl. Infectious Dis. XXXIX. 243 The fact that bacteria become tolerant or drug fast to various germicides in vitro immediately leads to the question of specificity. Ibid., Thirty drug fast strains were tested. Ibid. 237 (title) Drug-fastness in its relation to the resistance of certain organisms toward familiar germicides. 1945 Trans. Faraday Soc. XLI. 363 In the case of phenol itself and of several substituted phenols, little or no adaptation or drug-fastness is in fact apparent. |
| 1886 Pall Mall G. 20 Apr. 8/1 Messrs. Jordan and Co., Drug grinders. |
| 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. iv, Clerk in the drug-house. |
| 1952 Practitioner Mar. 235 (heading) Drug-induced blood disease. 1970 R. C. Zaehner Concordant Discord iii. 41 Foolhardy enough to deny the identity of drug-induced ecstasies with the more controlled raptures of the orthodox mystical traditions. 1973 [see iatrogenic a.]. 1983 Oxf. Textbk. Med. II. xxi. 120 No more needs to be said about drug-induced tremor or Parkinsonism. |
| 1931 G. E. Howard (title) Early English drug jars. 1960 H. Hayward Antique Coll. 102/1 Drug jar, pot or jar intended for use on apothecaries shelves. 1961 Antiquaries Jrnl. XLI. 9 (caption) Drug-jar with inscription from Winchester. |
| a 1810 Tannahill Poems (1846) 87 Mak'st..drugmen brew the poisoning dose. |
| 1903 R. L. Hobson Catal. Eng. Pott. in Brit. Mus. 137 English Delft Ware..Drug Pot, barrel-shaped. 1910 J. F. Blacker ABC of collecting Old Eng. Pott. x. 78 Zachariah Barnes..was noted as the maker of wall-tiles and druggists' jars, or drug-pots. |
| 1932 Brit. Med. Jrnl. II. 668/1 (title) Drug resistance, with special reference to trypanosomiasis. Ibid., The practical significance of the capacity of trypanosomal infections to become drug-resistant, or drug-fast, for the treatment of the infections in man..was at once recognized. 1961 Lancet 5 Aug. 309/2 Few new drug-resistant cases will appear. Ibid. 310/1 Drug resistance is already a significant problem in many areas. |
| 1951 Koestler Age of Longing 242 Developing new and better drug-resisting strains. |
| 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. 698 Apothecarie, drug-seller and such like. |
| 1962 Drug squad [see squad n.1 4 c]. 1967 Times 15 Nov. 3/3 Recent successful raids by Scotland Yard drugs squad men. 1976 Eastern Daily Press (Norwich) 16 Dec. 3/3 The alleged ‘Mr. Big’ of a Suffolk drugs ring was arrested by Suffolk Drug Squad. 1985 Daily Tel. 9 Sept. 3/5 (heading) Drugs squad ‘needs 214 men, not 38’. |
| 1933 Burlington Mag. Mar. 108/1 South Kensington has recently acquired a drug vase. |
Hence
ˈdrugful a., full of drugs, having plenty of drugs;
ˈdrugless a., without drugs.
| 1877 Blackie Wise Men 150 That so the drugful leech Might profit me the more. 1880 Browning Dram. Idylls Ser. ii. Doctor — 99 Whether drugged or left Drugless, the patient always lived, nor died. |
Add:
[1.] [b.] drug-related a.| 1965 Federal Reporter (U.S.) CCCXLVII. 494/1 The jury..could have found a causal relationship between appellant's *drug-related abnormality and the criminal behavior charged. 1985 Listener 30 May 38/2 An eight-year-old Amish boy..witnesses a bloody drug-related murder in the men's room of a Philadelphia train station. |
▸
drug of choice n. a pharmaceutical drug preferred to others in the management of a particular condition; (also) the illicit or recreational drug most favoured by an individual or group, or most in vogue at a particular time; also
fig.| 1897 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. 113 540 The rapidly appearing effects of its administration, together with its regular elimination, makes it the drug of choice when the symptoms are urgent. 1925A. Lambert in W. Osler Mod. Med. (ed. 3) II. 746 Heroin..obliterates all controlling influences of the herd instinct. Heroin, under these circumstances, is naturally the drug of choice of the criminal class. 1944 Science 28 Jan. 71/2 For routine treatment of amebic colitis,..carbasone, chiniofon and diodoquin constitute the present-day drugs of choice. 1996 China Post (Taipei, Taiwan) 1 May 3/6 He was a skirt-chaser and a habitual liar. The problem was that women were his drug of choice. 2007 N.Y. Mag. 8 Jan. 26/2 Adderall XR was my drug of choice. It turbocharged my brain during the school day. |
▸
drug baron n. (a) a wealthy or influential person in the pharmaceutical industry (now
rare);
(b) a person who controls an organization trading in illegal drugs,
esp. one who heads an extensive network involved in production, trafficking, and dealing.
| 1914 E. Peple & L. Lauferty Pair of Sixes xii. 192 The President of the Northwestern Drug Company was..the greatest *drug baron of the Middle West. 1917 Washington Post 15 Apr. (Mag. section) 4/2 Internal revenue officers..admit that they are baffled in their efforts to unmask the drug barons in the inner shrine of the dope hierarchy. 1933 Times 21 Mar. 13/5 A chapter entitled ‘The Drug Barons of Europe’..gives an account of one of the most important groups of international drug traffickers in the world. 1977 Washington Post (Nexis) 12 June d7 The film stars..Lou Gossett as the Bermudian drug baron. 2001 Independent 6 Mar. i. 4/7 Up to $650m a year could be confiscated from suspected crime bosses and drug barons under proposals for laws to tackle gangsters who manage to evade criminal prosecution. |
▸
drug bust n. colloq. (
orig. U.S.) an apprehension or punishment for illegal drug use; (also) a raid carried out by a law-enforcement agency in connection with the suspected possession of illegal drugs; a seizure of illegal drugs.
| 1965 C. Brown Manchild in Promised Land vii. 183 If there wasn't so much time on a *drug bust, I suppose a lot of other people would've gotten into it. 1968 N.Y. Times 11 June 51/3 Drug busts have happened here this week... Police are up tight so please keep cool. 1979 R. W. Larkin Suburban Youth in Cultural Crisis iv. 98 There is a conspiracy of silence about drugs and sex. Yet, every so often, a drug bust, pregnancy, [etc.]..will provoke a confrontation. 1984 Economist (Nexis) 1 Dec. 44 Before this drug bust, which was the biggest anywhere ever, Mexico's marijuana exports were reckoned at 1,300 tons a year. 1995 V.I. Pride Feb. 23/1 He was involved with numerous drug busts in the territory through his work with Customs. 2002 Sydney Morning Herald 23 Mar. (News Review section) 35/6 The world has yet to hear the explanations for the recent drug busts of the three Winter Olympic medallists..who were caught taking the latest variation of a blood booster, darbepoetin. |
▸
drug-buster n. colloq. (
orig. U.S.) a person who works to deter, uncover, or punish illegal drug use,
esp. a member of a police drug squad.
| 1972 Daily Rev. (Hayward, Calif.) 5 May 8/1 A new state and federal government attack on heroin trafficking in the Bay Area has been launched with a veteran U.S. Attorney's office *drug buster at the helm. 1986 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 20 July 5/4 Queensland's top drug-buster, Detective Inspector Len Cooke.., is a man of few words. 1999 8 Days 4 Dec. (TV Guide section) 13/2 A drug-buster refuses to accept bribes from triads and government officials alike. 2004 BusinessWeek 14 June 82 (heading) Can drug-busters beat new steroids? It's scientist vs. scientist as the Athens Olympics approach. |
▸
drug dealer n. (a) a person who sells medicinal drugs (now
rare);
(b) a person who sells illegal drugs (
cf. dealer n. Additions).
| 1800 Times 5 Nov. 2 Rd. Matson, Aldgate, tavern-keeper and *drug-dealer. 1872 N.Y. Times 13 Feb. 4/6 The enterprising drug-dealer will next cover every inch of rock surface with gigantic invitations to the general public to purchase remedies for all possible diseases. 1917 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune (Electronic text) 19 May The principal wholesale drug dealer of Oakland has been captured and the main plant of illegal drugs broken up. 1937 Mich. Law Rev. 37 13 A drug dealer labeled beladonna [sic] as extract of dandelion and a retail druggist sold it to the plaintiff as such. 2004 A. Vona Bad Girl 61 He sounded like the smarmy drug dealer on an after-school special. |
▸
drug-driving n. chiefly
Brit. the action or offence of driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs;
freq. attrib.;
cf. drink-driving n. a.
| 1957 Raleigh (Beckley, W. Va.) Reg. 20 June 8/1 (heading) *Drug driving. 2002 Observer 2 June i. 12/7 New research shows that drug-driving has increased six-fold in the past decade, with almost one in five people killed on the roads showing traces of drugs in their system. |
▸
drugs baron n. chiefly
Brit. = drug baron n. at Additions.
| 1974 Far Eastern Econ. Rev. 27 Sept. 22/2 The *drugs barons have long tentacles. They reach into the poppy-growing areas of Thailand, Burma, and Laos for the materials—raw opium and morphine base. 1985 Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) 7 Apr. a22/2 It appears that the drugs barons are looking increasingly to Western Europe to take up the slack. 2004 J. Mansell One you really Want xxi. 116 If you heard a drugs baron complaining that he couldn{p}t get anyone to smuggle a load of coke through customs, you{p}d say, ‘Oh hen, that's no problem, I can do that for you.’ |
▸
drug test n. a test performed to detect the presence or analyse the effect of a particular drug; (now chiefly) a test performed on blood or urine to determine the presence or absence of prohibited or illegal drugs, and used (
esp. in
Sport) to identify competitors using performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids.
| 1863 J. F. Gray Early Ann. Homœopathy in N.Y. 6 There came to his assistance several members of the profession..whom joined in the *drug tests and nobly seconded and enriched his imperishable records. 1892 Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 12 Aug. 1/7 Following the drug test they were given prescriptions to read and the examination ended. 1930 H. L. Hollingworth Abnormal Psychol. xxv. 556 Even if subjects could first be brought to a physiological limit before beginning the drug tests, the situation would not be entirely satisfactory. 1968 Sports Illustr. 4 Nov. 23/2 The drug test that often kept swimmers waiting for hours backstage, guarded by medical authorities waiting for them to calm down enough to provide a urine sample. 2001 B. Ehrenreich Nickel & Dimed (2002) 211 The indignities imposed on so many low-wage workers—the drug tests, the constant surveillance, being ‘reamed out’ by managers—are part of what keeps wages low. |
▸
drug testing n. and
adj. (a) adj.that performs tests to detect the presence or analyse the effect of particular drugs;
(b) n.the action or practice of performing drug tests.
| 1841 R. E. Grant On Present State of Med. Profession in Engl. 88 The proud Philarcus dies, the puppet and the jest of a worthless, weaver-examining, *drug-testing corporation. 1885 C. Wesselhoeft Lect. on Homoeopathy 41 Having had considerable personal experience in drug testing or proving. 1902 Med. News 1 Nov. 831/1 We can certainly expect better drugs on the average from large manufacturers who have the pick of the drug-market,..and with complete apparatus for drug-testing. 1968 Internat. Olympic Comm. Newslet. July 279 There is an urgent need for rapid, precise laboratory methods for carrying out drug testing in athletes. 1979 Washington Post (Nexis) 1 June d1 The organizing committee..for the 1980 Summer Games recently purchased $900,00 of sophisticated equipment..to supplement that already installed in their drug-testing laboratories in Moscow. 2002 Time 8 July 34/2 Supreme Court ruling that random drug testing of students involved in extracurricular activities is constitutional. |
▪ II. drug, n.2 [Allied to drug v.1; cf. also drag n.] 1. A low truck for the carriage of timber and other heavy articles;
cf. drag n. 1 c and d.
| 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 125 The Drug..is made somewhat like a low narrow Carr. It is used for the carriage of Timber, and then is drawn..by two or more Men. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 355/2. 1787 W. Marshall East Norf. Gloss., Drug, a four-wheeled timber carriage. 1878 in F. S. Williams Midl. Railw. 499 We managed that on a drug—a four wheeled timber wagon sort of thing. |
2. A drag for a vehicle;
= drag n. 3 c.
dial.| 1880 in W. Cornwall Gloss. |
3. Comb. † drug-carriage = sense 1;
† drug-saw, a cross-cut saw:
cf. drag-saw (
drag n. 9).
| 1578 Inv. Roy. Wardr. (1815) 255 (Jam.) Ane litle drug saw for wrichtis. 1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 214 In all likelihood, they were brought thither on Drug-Carriages. ? 17.. Acc. Depredat. on Clan Campbell (1816) 53 (Jam.) Drug-saw, bow saw, and others. |
▪ III. drug, n.3 var. of
drogue.
▪ IV. † drug, v.1 Obs. exc. dial. Also 3–6
drugge.
[Common from c 1500 in Sc.; also in mod.Eng. dialects. Of uncertain origin. In
Sc. and
Eng. dial. use,
app. a variant of
drag v.; but the two
ME. instances are earlier than any known examples of
drag, and may have some different origin. One or both may possibly belong to
drudge v., of which, also,
drugge was an early spelling.]
To pull forcibly, to drag. (
trans. and intr.)
| [a 1240 Lofsong in Cott. Hom. 207 Bi his owune rode, on his softe schuldres, so herde druggunge. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 558 At the gate he profreth his seruyse To drugge [Camb. MS. drogge] and drawe what so men wol deuyse.] 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxiii. 70 Evir the cuschettis at him tuggit, The rukis him rent, the ravynis him druggit. Ibid. lxi. 32, I am ane auld horss, as ȝe knaw That evir in duill dois drug and draw. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. iv. 84 And for to drug and draw wald neuer irk. 1601 ? Marston Pasquil & Kath. i. 312 If all the Brewers jades in the Towne can drugge me from loue of my selfe. 1794 T. Davis Agric. Wilts (1818) 258–68 Drugging timber, drawing [timber] out of the wood under a pair of wheels. |
▪ V. drug, v.2 (
drʌg)
[f. drug n.1] 1. trans. To mix or adulterate (food or drink) with a drug,
esp. a narcotic or poisonous drug.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. ii. 7, I haue drugg'd their Possets, That Death and Nature doe contend about them. 1828 Scott F. M. Perth xv, What would it have cost me..so to have drugged that balm, as should have made your arm rot? 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. (1861) II. 263 Montigny's meat and drink, they said, should be daily drugged. |
| fig. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus xliv. 11 A speech of his, pure poison, every line deep-drugg'd. |
2. a. To administer drugs to (a person),
esp. for the purpose of stupefying or poisoning him. Also
fig.| a 1730 Fenton To Knt. of Sable Shield (R.), Whom he has drugg'd to sure repose. 1791 Cowper Odyss. ii. 434 Some baneful herb Which cast into our cup shall drug us all. 1883 Law Rep. 11 Q. Bench Div. 598 No one had been drugged on the night when the house was broken into. |
b. To administer something nauseous to; to nauseate.
| 1667 Milton P.L. x. 567 Drugd as oft, With hatefullest disrelish. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. vi, With pleasure drugg'd, he almost long'd for woe. |
3. intr. To take or be in the habit of taking drugs;
esp. to indulge in narcotics.
| 1893 Funk's Stand. Dict. s.v., She has drugged all her life. 1968 [see drugger 3]. |
Hence
drugged ppl. a.;
ˈdrugging vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. i, Past all the doses of your drugging doctors. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (1879) I. xxii. 504 The drugged soul is beyond the reach of reason. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 169 The physician's use of burning, cutting, drugging, and starving. a 1880 Geo. Eliot in Pall Mall G. (1885) 9 Feb., Brewers with their drugged ale. |
▪ VI. drug, druggery, -ing obs. ff.
drudge, etc.