overdose

plural overdoses

1. An excessive and dangerous dose of a drug.

   to die of a heroin overdose

   3 more examples

   It works for a while, but when Spider-Man maneuvers him ouside the hospital room where Harry is recovering from his overdose, some part of the Goblin's brain that's still the loving father surfaces, drives him unconscious, and when next he wakes up, all memory of his being a super-villain is conveniently wiped clean.

   2011, Pierre Comtois, Marvel Comics in the 1970s

   Drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in West Virginia, and the state leads the country in fatal drug overdoses. OxyContin—nicknamed “hillbilly heroin”—is king.

   [2012 August 23, Conor Friedersdorf, quoting Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco, “What OxyContin Addicts in West Virginia Tell Us About the War on Drugs”, in The Atlantic

   After 15, 30, 60 or 90 days, the animals (n = 5 per time point for each subgroup) were sacrificed via an overdose of ketamine and xylazine hydrochloride (Vetbrands Brazil Limited, Jacareí, SP), and the hemimaxillae were removed and fixed in 10% formalin solution (Fig 1 ).

   2015 August 14, “Green Tea Modulates Cytokine Expression in the Periodontium and Attenuates Alveolar Bone Resorption in Type 1 Diabetic Rats”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI

   Synonyms: overdosage

present singular third person overdoses · participle present overdosing · participle past overdosed · past overdosed

1. transitiveTo dose to excess; to give an overdose, or too many doses, to someone.
2. intransitiveTo dose excessively, to take an overdose.

   She overdosed on cocaine.

   1 more example

   Be careful not to overdose on those pills.

3. figurativelyintransitiveTo indulge in something excessively.

   Claude overdosed on smack in a Chicago flophouse three years later.

   2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 191

   1 more example

   They still had Sergio Agüero to bring off the bench and the Etihad was overdosing on optimism. For the game to finish with an aggregate 5-1 score distorts the fact the occasion was full of drama and suspense until Salah’s goal conclusively changed the complexion of the evening.

   2018 April 10, Daniel Taylor, “Liverpool go through after Mohamed Salah stops Manchester City fightback”, in The Guardian (London)