placebo : Idioms & Phrases


active placebo

  • noun a placebo used in experimental tests of a drug that has noticeable side effects
    • an active placebo mimics the side effects of the experimental drug
WordNet

placebo effect

  • noun any effect that seems to be a consequence of administering a placebo; the change is usually beneficial and is assumed result from the person's faith in the treatment or preconceptions about what the experimental drug was supposed to do; pharmacologists were the first to talk about placebo effects but now the idea has been generalized to many situations having nothing to do with drugs
WordNet

To sing placebo

  • to agree with one in his opinion; to be complaisant to.
Webster 1913