medicine
noun
med·i·cine
ˈme-di-sən 
British usually
ˈmed-sən
plural medicines
1
a
: a substance or preparation used in treating disease
cough medicine
b
: something that affects well-being
He's bad medicine.—
Zane Grey
Zane Grey2
a
: the science and art dealing with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease
She's interested in a career in medicine.
b
: the branch of medicine concerned with the nonsurgical treatment of disease
3
: a substance (such as a drug or potion) used to treat something other than disease
4
: an object (such as a stone, animal bone, or plant root) which in some Indigenous American traditions is held to give control over natural or magical forces
also
: magical power or a magical rite
medicine
transitive verb
Examples of medicine in a Sentence
He forgot to take his medicine.
Did you look in the medicine cabinet for a pain reliever?
Their research has led to many important advances in modern medicine.
She's interested in a career in medicine.
Recent Examples on the Web
Separately, the discovery of a woman’s shoe, a compact case, a medicine vial, and a bottle of concealer that were found on Nikumaroro in the South Pacific and may have belonged to the 1930s aviator Amelia Earhart have provided more clues about her 1937 disappearance.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 28 May 2026
An experimental medicine helped vanquish hepatitis B in clinical trials in nearly 1 in 5 people with chronic infections caused by the virus, far outperforming available treatment options in an illness that kills 1 million people every year.
—Andrew Joseph, STAT, 28 May 2026
Waldorf called the maternal-fetal-medicine team at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science in Little Rock, the state’s only academic health center.
—Kavitha Surana, CNN Money, 28 May 2026
The pacemaker transformed cardiac medicine by dramatically increasing survival rates for patients with arrhythmias and heart block, becoming one of the most important life-saving medical technologies ever created.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for medicine
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 28 May 2026
An experimental medicine helped vanquish hepatitis B in clinical trials in nearly 1 in 5 people with chronic infections caused by the virus, far outperforming available treatment options in an illness that kills 1 million people every year.
—Andrew Joseph, STAT, 28 May 2026
Waldorf called the maternal-fetal-medicine team at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science in Little Rock, the state’s only academic health center.
—Kavitha Surana, CNN Money, 28 May 2026
The pacemaker transformed cardiac medicine by dramatically increasing survival rates for patients with arrhythmias and heart block, becoming one of the most important life-saving medical technologies ever created.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for medicine
Cite this Entry
“Medicine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medicine. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
medicine
noun
med·i·cine
ˈmed-ə-sən
1
: a substance or preparation used in treating disease
2
: the science or art that deals with the prevention, cure, or easing of disease
especially
: the practice of the physician as it differs from that of the surgeon
3
: an object, power, or ceremony held to give control over natural or magical forces
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