antibiotics

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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Antibiotics may be informally defined as the subgroup of anti-infectives that are derived from bacterial sources and are used [more]Antibiotics - 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

Drugs that fight infections.