antibiotic

[an-ti-bahy-ot-ik, -bee-, an-tee-, -tahy-] /ˌæn tɪ baɪˈɒt ɪk, -bi-, ˌæn ti-, -taɪ-/

noun

any of a large group of chemical substances, as penicillin or streptomycin, produced by various microorganisms and fungi, having the capacity in dilute solutions to inhibit the growth of or to destroy bacteria and other microorganisms, used chiefly in the treatment of infectious diseases.

adjective

of or involving antibiotics.

Origin

1855-60, for an earlier sense; anti- + biotic

Related forms

antibiotically, adverb

Examples from the web for antibiotics

antibiotics will not help an infection caused by a virus.
One of the persistent problems of industrial agriculture is the inappropriate use of antibiotics.
As a result, in hospitals across the nation, some antibiotics have become powerless against life-threatening infections.
They argue that farmed fish is fatty, dyed, polluting and stuffed with antibiotics.
The other two forms are almost invariably fatal without antibiotics.
Dangerous bacteria are developing resistance to existing antibiotics faster than humans can invent or discover new drugs.
High doses of antibiotics finally fixed him after many months, and he's still not right today.
Helpful bacteria in our intestines take a pounding during an antibiotics treatment, but normally recover.
Beta-lactam antibiotics share common chemical features.
Not my tax dollars, not when antibiotics seem effective.

British Dictionary definitions for antibiotics

antibiotic

/ˌæntɪbaɪˈɒtɪk/

noun

any of various chemical substances, such as penicillin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline, produced by various microorganisms, esp fungi, or made synthetically and capable of destroying or inhibiting the growth of microorganisms, esp bacteria

adjective

of or relating to antibiotics

Word Origin and History for antibiotics

antibiotic

adj.

1894, "destructive to micro-organisms," from French antibiotique (c.1889), from anti- "against" (see anti-) + biotique "of (microbial) life," from Late Latin bioticus "of life" (see biotic). As a noun, first recorded 1941 in works of U.S. microbiologist Selman Waksman (1888-1973), discoverer of streptomycin. Earlier the adjective was used in a sense "not from living organisms" in debates over the origins of certain fossils.

antibiotics in Medicine

antibiotic an·ti·bi·ot·ic (ān'tĭ-bī-ŏt'ĭk, ān'tī-)
n.
A substance, such as penicillin or streptomycin, produced by or derived from certain fungi, bacteria, and other organisms, that can destroy or inhibit the growth of other microorganisms. adj.

Of or relating to antibiotics.
Of or relating to antibiosis.

antibiotics in Science

antibiotic

  (ān'tĭ-bī-ŏt'ĭk)
Noun  A substance, such as penicillin, that is capable of destroying or weakening certain microorganisms, especially bacteria or fungi, that cause infections or infectious diseases. Antibiotics are usually produced by or synthesized from other microorganisms, such as molds. They inhibit pathogens by interfering with essential intracellular processes, including the synthesis of bacterial proteins. Antibiotics do not kill viruses and are not effective in treating viral infections.

Adjective

Relating to antibiotics.
Relating to antibiosis.

antibiotics in Culture

antibiotic [(an-ti-beye-ot-ik, an-teye-beye-ot-ik, an-ti-bee-ot-ik)]

A substance that destroys or inhibits the growth of microorganisms and is therefore used to treat some infections. One of the most familiar antibiotics is penicillin.

Note: Microorganisms that are initially treatable with antibiotics may evolve resistance as the more susceptible members of the population are killed off. (See resistance to antibiotics.)