a substance that has no physical effects, given to patients who do not need medicine but think that they do, or used when testing new drugsthe placebo effect(= the effect of taking a placebo and feeling better)Half of the people taking part in the experiment were given a placebo.The placebo effect means that any treatment will improve patients merely because they want to recover.Wordfindermedicineadminister,capsule,dispense,dose,ill,inhaler,medicine,medication,pharmacy,placeboOxford Collocations DictionaryPlacebo is used before these nouns: effectSeefull entrySee related entries:MedicationWord Originlate 18th cent.: from Latin, literally ‘I shall be acceptable or pleasing’, from placere ‘to please’.
See placebo in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic EnglishSee placebo in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
