ANTIBIOTIC

adj. kills bacteria, working against infectious diseases

n. type of medication used to treat infectious diseases

An antibiotic is a chemotherapeutic agent that inhibits or abolishes the growth of micro-organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans. The term originally referred to any agent with biological activity against living organisms; however, "antibiotic" now is used to refer to substances with anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, or anti-parasitical activity. The first antibiotic compounds used in modern medicine were produced and isolated from living organisms, such as the penicillin class produced by fungi in the genus Penicillium, or streptomycin from bacteria of the genus Streptomyces. With advances in organic chemistry many antibiotics are now also obtained by chemical synthesis, such as the sulfa drugs. Many antibiotics are relatively small molecules with a molecular weight less than 2000 Da.
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Antibiotic /an·ti·bi·ot·ic/ a chemical substance produced by a microorganism, which has the capacity to inhibit the growth of or to kill other [more]Antibiotic - Community and Resources

Noun
1. a chemical substance derivable from a mold or bacterium that kills microorganisms and cures infections; "when antibiotics were first discovered they were called wonder drugs"
(synonym) antibiotic drug
(hypernym) antibacterial, antibacterial drug, bactericide
(hyponym) actinomycin
Adjective
1. of or relating to antibiotic drugs
(pertainym) antibiotic drug

1
adjective
which stops the spread of bacteria
2
noun
drug (such as penicillin) which is developed from living substances and which stops the spread of microorganisms; he was given a course of antibiotics; antibiotics have no use against virus diseases
broad-spectrum antibiotic = antibiotic used to control many types of bacteria
COMMENT: penicillin is one of the commonest antibiotics, together with streptomycin, tetracycline, erythromycin and many others. Although antibiotics are widely and successfully used, new forms of bacteria have developed which are resistant to them