Etymology 1

Noun

1. A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose.
2. A substance, often addictive, which affects the central nervous system.
3. A chemical or substance, not necessarily for medical purposes, which alters the way the mind or body works.
4. A substance, especially one which is illegal, ingested for recreational use.
   • 1971, Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Harper Perennial 2005 edition, p. 3,

     We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.

Verb

1. To administer intoxicating drugs to, generally without the recipient's knowledge or consent.

   She suddenly felt strange, and only then realized she'd been drugged.

2. To add intoxicating drugs to with the intention of drugging someone.

   She suddenly felt strange. She realized her drink must have been drugged.

Verb

1. You look like someone drug you behind a horse for half a mile.

Usage notes

• Random House says that is "nonstandard" as the past tense of . Merriam-Webster once ruled that in this construction was "illiterate" but have since upgraded it to "dialect". The lexicographers of New World, American Heritage and Oxford make no mention of this word.