overdose
This term carries a heavy clinical and tragic weight, often associated with emergency medicine, addiction, and crisis. It describes a state of toxic overload where the body can no longer process a substance, leading to systemic failure. While it is a medical term, it is used frequently in news reports and legal documents to describe fatal events.
In casual or hyperbolic speech, people sometimes use it to describe an excess of something non-medicinal, such as an information overdose. However, this usage is rare and usually ironic, as the primary connotation remains one of physical danger, unconsciousness, or death.
Countable when referring to a specific medical event or instance of poisoning. Uncountable when discussing the general phenomenon of drug toxicity.
Meanings
Examples
Phrasal Verbs
overdose on
to take an excessive and dangerous amount of a specific drug or substance
She accidentally overdosed on her sleeping medication.