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Medicine vocabulary · Prescriptions and Medication

Antibiotic

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˌæntibaɪˈɑːtɪk/nounCore term

In medicine, antibiotic means: A medicine that kills bacteria or stops them from growing, used to treat bacterial infections. It does not work against viruses.

In Turkish: antibiyotik

How it is used

Usually plural. Patients are 'on antibiotics'; doctors start, stop, switch or narrow antibiotics, and talk about IV and oral antibiotics, courses and antibiotic resistance.

Example sentences

  1. She's been on IV antibiotics for three days and her fever has settled.

  2. This is a viral infection, so antibiotics won't help.

Common collocations

  • on antibiotics
  • a course of antibiotics
  • IV antibiotics
  • broad-spectrum antibiotics
  • antibiotic resistance
  • infectionAn illness caused when bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites enter the body and multiply.
  • courseA set number of doses of a medicine, or sessions of treatment, given over a fixed period; also the way an illness develops over time.
  • prescribeTo officially decide on and write down a medicine or treatment for a patient, so that they can get it from a pharmacy.
  • intravenousGiven directly into a vein, usually through a thin plastic tube called a cannula, as with fluids, antibiotics or pain relief.
  • pneumoniaAn infection of the lungs in which the small air sacs fill with fluid or pus, causing cough, fever and difficulty breathing.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Prescriptions and Medication

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.