noun
- plural of placebo; inactive substances given to patients in medical studies or treatments, often to test the effectiveness of real medications
Usage: medical
Examples
- The researchers gave placebos to half the participants in the drug trial.
- Some patients showed improvement even when taking placebos instead of real medicine.
- The study compared the new medication against placebos to measure its effectiveness.
- Doctors sometimes prescribe placebos when they believe a patient’s symptoms are psychological.
- The control group received placebos while the test group got the actual treatment.
- Placebos are essential tools in double-blind medical studies.