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Glite Dictionary
sulfa drug

sulfa drug

1 6.2
A medicine that stops bacteria from growing to treat infections
  • noun
  • /ˈsʌlfə drʌg/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fármaco sulfa
  • In the 1930s, the introduction of sulfa drugs revolutionized the treatment of various bacterial infections.

And then sulfa drugs and penicillin and those sorts of things.

Examples

  • She had sent for the death certificate last year, and it listed the cause of death as "toxic overdose of sulfa drugs."

    Fiction book (2002)

  • I had a serious allergic reaction to sulfa drugs, diagnosed as "flea bites" by three different doctors at the same clinic.

    Blog text (2)

  • The doctor prescribed a sulfa drug to treat my bacterial infection.

  • Many patients are unaware that they have an allergy to sulfa drugs until they receive a prescription.

Synonyms

sulfa
vssulfa drug
  • Specialized
3 8.2

An antibiotic drug that stops bacteria from growing by using sulfonamide chemicals

is the general name for such medicines without naming the PABA mechanism
sulfonamide
vssulfa drug
  • Specialized
1 7.5

A medicine that kills or stops the growth of some bacteria

is about medicines made from those compounds rather than the chemical class
antibacterial drug
vssulfa drug
  • Specialized
3.0

A medicine that kills bacteria or stops their growth

is the narrower name for medicines defined by a specific chemical group

Surface Forms

sulfa drug singular
sulfa drugs plural

Morphology

sulfa + drug

This is a straightforward modifier+noun composition: 'sulfa' specifies the class (containing sulfonamides) and 'drug' names the item, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer 'a drug containing sulfonamides.' Although 'sulfa' is technical vocabulary, the semantic relation is directly compositional rather than idiomatic, making it transparent to learners familiar with the parts.

Etymology

The name sulfa drug may come from the chemical part called sulfa, which was in the first medicines of this kind. Those early sulfa drugs stopped bacteria, so the name came to mean 'medicine that fights bacteria'.