Meanings
plural chemists'
- AustraliaNew ZealandUKSynonym of pharmacy, especially when run as a small standalone shop.
NHS doctors will only be giving the drug out to people with symptoms and don’t want individuals to try stockpiling the drug themselves. But Tamiflu is available at chemists’ if you can get a private prescription.
2005 September 12, Damian Whitworth, “Urban worrier”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Jan 2026Synonyms: pharmacy
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of pharmacy, especially when run as a small standalone shop.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna retail shop where medicine and other articles are sold
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Clipping of chemist's shop, in the British use of chemist as a synonym for pharmacist.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
chemist's. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemist's
“chemist's.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemist's. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chemist's,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemist's.
Source: chemist's on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.