placebo
noun
pla·ce·bo
| \ plə-ˈsē-(ˌ)bō
\
\
plural placebos
Definition of placebo
1a
: a usually pharmacologically inert preparation prescribed more for the mental relief of the patient than for its actual effect on a disorder
b
: an inert or innocuous substance used especially in controlled experiments testing the efficacy of another substance (such as a drug)
2
: something tending to soothe
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Examples of placebo in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Because Ebola is so often fatal, the researchers ensured that every participant in the trial would receive some sort of promising treatment—no sugar-pill placebos. — Lila Thulin, Smithsonian, "Researchers Have Finally Found an Effective Treatment for Ebola," 14 Aug. 2019 Every single woman who got the vaccine showed an immune response, compared to none of the women who got the placebo shot. — Erika Edwards, NBC News, "First chlamydia vaccine tested in humans shows early promise," 12 Aug. 2019 Patients are randomly assigned to receive either the treatment being tested or a comparison like a placebo or existing treatment. — Cathleen O'grady, Ars Technica, "Spin in psychiatric clinical trial reports is widespread," 9 Aug. 2019 The participants took either 400 or 800 milligrams of CBD or placebo at different intervals so that researchers could assess the immediate and longer-term effects of the compound. — Emily Willingham, Scientific American, "Cannabis Compound Eases Anxiety and Cravings of Heroin Addiction," 21 May 2019 Perplexingly, though, the disease did not progress in either the treatment or placebo groups during the 1-year study, the company said. — Meredith Wadman, Science | AAAS, "Update: Twins who were face of controversial rare disease treatment have died," 18 July 2019 In one small study, women 50 years and older with insomnia drank eight ounces of either tart cherry juice or a placebo in the morning and one to two hours before bed. — Cynthia Sass, Mph, Health.com, "7 Healthy Late-Night Snacks," 3 July 2019 In the coming months, Ovid will enroll 60 Angelman patients between the ages of 4 and 12, randomizing them to receive either OV101 or placebo. — Damian Garde, BostonGlobe.com, "Ovid begins late-stage trial for rare disease treatment, defying Wall Street’s expectations," 27 June 2019 This means that the patients in the study (there were 157 of them) were chosen at random to either receive the topical treatment or a placebo, in order to keep things unbiased. — Rebecca Dancer, Allure, "Ruxolitinib, a New Topical Cream Could Effectively Reverse Vitiligo, According to New Study," 26 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'placebo.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for placebo
placebo
noun
English Language Learners Definition of placebo
medical
: a pill or substance that is given to a patient like a drug but that has no physical effect on the patient
See the full definition for placebo in the English Language Learners Dictionary
placebo
noun
pla·ce·bo
| \ plə-ˈsē-(ˌ)bō
\
\
plural placebos
Medical Definition of placebo
1
: a usually pharmacologically inert preparation prescribed more for the mental relief of the patient than for its actual effect on a disorder
2
: an inert or innocuous substance used especially in controlled experiments testing the efficacy of another substance (as a drug)
Keep scrolling for more