Library / English Dictionary

ADDICTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(Roman law) a formal award by a magistrate of a thing or person to another person (as the award of a debtor to his creditor); a surrender to a master

Example:

under Roman law addiction was the justification for slavery

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("addiction" is a kind of...):

award; awarding (a grant made by a law court)

Domain category:

civil law; jus civile; Justinian code; Roman law (the legal code of ancient Rome; codified under Justinian; the basis for many modern systems of civil law)

Derivation:

addict (to cause (someone or oneself) to become dependent (on something, especially a narcotic drug))

Sense 2

Meaning:

An abnormally strong craving

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("addiction" is a kind of...):

craving (an intense desire for some particular thing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming (especially alcohol or narcotic drugs)

Synonyms:

addiction; dependance; dependence; dependency; habituation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("addiction" is a kind of...):

physical condition; physiological condition; physiological state (the condition or state of the body or bodily functions)

Domain category:

narcotic (a drug that produces numbness or stupor; often taken for pleasure or to reduce pain; extensive use can lead to addiction)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "addiction"):

drug addiction; white plague (an addiction to a drug (especially a narcotic drug))

Derivation:

addict (to cause (someone or oneself) to become dependent (on something, especially a narcotic drug))

Credits

 Context examples: 

Smoking kreteks can lead to nicotine addiction and can cause lung cancer and other lung conditions.

(Kretek, NCI Dictionary)

Therapy dealing with lifestyle management and includes: behavioral and dietary modifications, exercise, stress management, and addiction control.

(Lifestyle Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)

Meth use can quickly lead to addiction.

(Methamphetamine, NIH: National Institute on Drug Abuse)

Using iq’mik can lead to nicotine addiction and can cause cancer of the mouth and other health problems.

(Iq’mik, NCI Dictionary)

It has been used to treat phobias and anxiety, to manage pain, and to extinguish habits and addictions.

(Hypnotherapy, NCI Thesaurus)

It is a narcotic antagonist that is effective orally, longer lasting and more potent than naloxone, and has been proposed for the treatment of heroin addiction.

(Naltrexone hydrochloride, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Hookah smoking can lead to nicotine addiction and can cause many of the same health problems as cigarette smoking.

(Hookah, NCI Dictionary)

Smoking cigarettes can lead to nicotine addiction and can cause many types of cancer, including cancers of the lung, larynx, mouth, esophagus, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach, and cervix, and acute myeloid leukemia.

(Cigarette, NCI Dictionary)

Smoking cigars can lead to nicotine addiction and can cause cancers of the mouth, larynx (voice box), esophagus, lung, and pancreas.

(Cigar, NCI Dictionary)

A better understanding of how the BNST and hypothalamus work to coordinate emotion-related behavior could shed light on the emotional processes dysregulated in addiction.

(Researchers identify key brain circuits for reward-seeking and avoidance behavior, National Institutes of Health)