physic — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Relating to or concerning existent materials; physical.

Noun

1. A medicine or drug, especially a cathartic or purgative.

   Usage

   • Archaic
   • Countable

   Examples

   Harke yee Lords, you ſee I haue giuen her Phiſicke, / And you muſt needs beſtovv her Funerall, […]

   I ſhould not thinke it ſtrange, for 'tis a phyſicke / That's bitter, to ſweet end.

   More examples (2)

   Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief.

   Learn before thou speak, and use physick or ever thou be sick.

2. The art or profession of healing disease; medicine.

   Usage

   • Archaic
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   ...and thus draw out all the unwholesome Air and Stench, which does more harm than any Physick can repair.

3. Natural philosophy; physics.

   Usage

   • Archaic
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   When I left Mr. Bates, I went down to my Father; where, by the Aſſiſtance of him and my Uncle John, and ſome other Relations, I got forty Pounds, and a Promiſe of thirty Pounds a year to maintain me at Leyden: there I ſtudied Phyſick two years and ſeven months, knowing it would be uſeful in long Voyages.

4. A physician.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Obsolete
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   Desire is death, which physic did except.

Verb

1. To cure or heal.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   Wouldſt thou not haue ſome Bulchin from the herd / To phyſicke thee of this venereall itch?

2. To administer medicine to, especially a purgative.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   I will physic your rankness […]

   When she had been a little girl - a very little girl - her mother had once cried at Anne in utter exasperation, "You're so contrary cheese'd physic ya!"

Noun

1. a purging medicine; stimulates evacuation of the bowels

   Synonyms

   purgativecatharticaperient

   Broader terms

   medicinemedicationmedicamentmedicinal drug