PHARMACEUTICAL

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pharmaceutical mean? 

• PHARMACEUTICAL (noun)
  The noun PHARMACEUTICAL has 1 sense:

1. drug or medicine that is prepared or dispensed in pharmacies and used in medical treatment

  Familiarity information: PHARMACEUTICAL used as a noun is very rare.

• PHARMACEUTICAL (adjective)
  The adjective PHARMACEUTICAL has 2 senses:

1. of or relating to pharmacy or pharmacists

2. of or relating to drugs used in medical treatment

  Familiarity information: PHARMACEUTICAL used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PHARMACEUTICAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Drug or medicine that is prepared or dispensed in pharmacies and used in medical treatment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

pharmaceutic; pharmaceutical

Hypernyms ("pharmaceutical" is a kind of...):

medicament; medication; medicinal drug; medicine ((medicine) something that treats or prevents or alleviates the symptoms of disease)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pharmaceutical"):

radiopharmaceutical (pharmaceutical consisting of a radioactive compound used in radiation therapy)

clot buster; thrombolytic; thrombolytic agent (a kind of pharmaceutical that can break up clots blocking the flow of blood to the heart muscle)

Derivation:

pharmaceutical (of or relating to drugs used in medical treatment)

• PHARMACEUTICAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to pharmacy or pharmacists

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

pharmaceutic; pharmaceutical

Context example:

the pharmaceutical industry

Pertainym:

pharmaceutics (the art and science of preparing and dispensing drugs and medicines,)

pharmacist (a health professional trained in the art of preparing and dispensing drugs)

Derivation:

pharmaceutics (the art and science of preparing and dispensing drugs and medicines,)

pharmacy (a retail shop where medicine and other articles are sold)

pharmacy (the art and science of preparing and dispensing drugs and medicines,)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to drugs used in medical treatment

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

pharmaceutical (drug or medicine that is prepared or dispensed in pharmacies and used in medical treatment)

Derivation:

pharmaceutical (drug or medicine that is prepared or dispensed in pharmacies and used in medical treatment)

 Context examples 

A sterile solution containing a particular pharmaceutical agent administered to the external eye, usually in the form of droplets.

(Ophthalmic Solution, NCI Thesaurus)

Chemotherapeutic drugs, such as etoposide, are not the only pharmaceuticals that induce DPCs.

(DNA damage caused by cancer treatment reversed by ZATT protein, National Institutes of Health)

EXAMPLE(S): academic, pharmaceutical industry, government, other.

(Organization Type Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

Concept also refers to a return telephone or radio call, particularly when a survey is conducted; and to a recall of a recently sold product (e.g. pharmaceutical) by the manufacturer.

(Callback, NCI Thesaurus)

Biotechnology-derived pharmaceutical agents made from living organisms or their products.

(Biological agent, NCI Thesaurus)

A pharmaceutical agent other than agent(s) tested in a given protocol that is administered to or used by a subject either prior to or during the study.

(Concomitant Agent, NCI Thesaurus)

Any pharmaceutical agent, other than the primary therapy, that is administered to or used by the subject prior to or during a specified time period.

(Concomitant Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)

This protein plays a role in the metabolism of steroids and pharmaceuticals.

(Cytochrome P450 2B6, NCI Thesaurus)

This condition is often caused by the administration of a pharmaceutical agent that initiates a poisonous or toxic response in cardiac tissue.

(Cardiotoxicity, NCI Thesaurus)

This oil is obtained from the thyme plant (Thymus vulgaris) and contains thymol, an active compound with biological activities that is widely used as a pharmaceutical and therapeutic agent.

(Thyme oil and corn starch prove deadly for mosquito larvae, SciDev.Net)