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to detox

to detox

9 5.5
To stop using drugs or alcohol while receiving medical help
  • verb
  • /ˈdiːtɑːks/
  • Specialized
: desintoxicarse
  • To prepare for her new lifestyle, she decided to detox from all harmful substances for a month.
  • detox from opioids
  • need to detox
  • want to detox

I mean, I spent three weeks in a bed just just trying to detox.

Examples

  • And while you are detoxing yourself, why not clean up your environment?

    Blog text (21)

  • When you detox yourself from that exposure, you then go, oh, number one, I'm feeling better and I didn't know I wasn't feeling good, right?

  • So how do I now go back and detox myself?

  • Well, we're gonna take you there and we're gonna be there for you while you detox.

    As Certain as Death (2023)

  • I go into the hospital Monday to detox.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Your son may need to go into drug rehab for a while, in order to detox and clear out the drugs from his system.

    Blog text (30)

  • They had to detox me at the hospital.

    Cop (1988)

  • I'm already detoxing from multiple things.

    As Certain as Death (2023)

  • I need a place to detox for a few days till I go to rehab and McKenna is donating to my charity.

    To Write Love on Her Arms (2015)

  • Years ago, I developed thyroid problems that I just recently recovered from by detoxing my body of radiation—and after all these years!

    Blog text (22)

Synonyms

to clean up
vsto detox
  • Informal
41 3.9

To stop using drugs or alcohol and stay sober

involves medical treatment to remove toxins and treat dependence rather than mere stopping
to detoxify
vsto detox
  • Specialized
4 5.3

To help a person remove alcohol or drugs from their body in a medical setting

includes both receiving and giving medical treatment for toxins or dependence
to flush out toxins
vsto detox
1 4.4

Remove harmful substances from the body by drinking more water or sweating

refers to a medical treatment that removes toxins or ends substance dependence
to detoxicate
vsto detox
1 7.5

Take harmful substances out of something to make it safe

applies to medical treatment removing body toxins or dependence rather than treating objects
to denarcotize
vsto detox
  • NSFW
9.9

To help a person stop needing strong pain drugs

covers treatment for dependence on alcohol or drugs generally, not only narcotics
to clean one's system
vsto detox
5.1

To remove harmful things from the body or a computer

implies formal treatment to remove toxins or dependence rather than general cleansing

How Thorough

to detox
  • Specialized
9 5.5
to purge
62 6.3
to cleanse
28 3.0

Surface Forms

detox infinitive
detoxed past
detoxed past participle
detoxing present participle
detoxes third person singular

Morphology

detox = detoxify (semi-transparent) = de + tox

The verb sense corresponds to 'detoxify' (remove toxins), which makes the meaning accessible if learners know 'toxin/toxic' and 'de-', but the short colloquial form may be less transparent to lower-level learners.

Etymology

Detox is the verb form of the same idea, from de- 'remove' and tox as in toxic 'poison'. So to detox is to get rid of drugs or other harmful substances from the body, often with medical help.