Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
chemist's

chemist's

1.3
A shop where you buy medicines and other health items
  • noun
  • /ˈkɛmɪsts/
  • UK
translation icon : farmacia
  • You can pick up your prescription from the chemist's on the corner.

Examples

  • I stopped at the chemist's to buy some painkillers.

  • She works part-time at the local chemist's on weekends.

  • I need to stop by the chemist's for some cough syrup.

  • The chemist's is just around the corner.

  • I stopped at the chemist's to buy some painkillers.

  • You can pick up your prescription from the chemist's on the corner.

  • I need to stop by the chemist's for some cough syrup.

Synonyms

pharmacy
vschemist's
141 2.3

A shop that sells medicines and other health items

is the chiefly British everyday name used for the same shop
drugstore
vschemist's
  • US
103 1.0

A shop that sells medicine and everyday items like soap and snacks

focuses on medicines and health items rather than a wide range of goods
chem
vschemist's
  • UK
9 8.9

A shop that sells medicines and fills prescriptions

is the standard British noun for the shop rather than the brief slang
chemist's shop
vschemist's
  • UK
1 1.9

A shop that sells medicines and other health items like toiletries

is the shorter possessive name used commonly in British speech
pharm
vschemist's
  • Informal
1 8.1

A shop that sells medicines and fills prescriptions

is the longer standard British shop name rather than the clipped casual word
apothecary's shop
vschemist's
  • Archaic
9.9

A shop where a person makes and sells medicines and home remedies

is the modern British retail name rather than the historical preparing trade

Surface Forms

chemist's singular
chemists' plural

Morphology

chemist's = chemist (transparent) = chemist + 's

The possessive/clitic 's denotes 'the chemist's (shop)' by metonymy, a productive and readily interpretable pattern for learners in British English.

Etymology

The word chemist's comes from chemist, a person who works with chemistry and chemicals; in the past these people made and sold medicines, so their shop became known as the chemist's. That's why a chemist's today means a shop where you can buy medicines.