ad: Short for advertisement. It may appear in any medium (print, online or broadcast) and has been prepared to sell someone on a product, idea or point of view.
addicted: Unable to control the use of a habit-forming drug or to forego an unhealthy habit (such as video game playing or phone texting). It results from an illness triggered by brain changes that occur after using some drugs or engaging in some extremely pleasurable activities. People with an addiction will feel a compelling need to engage in some behavior, such as using a drug (which can be alcohol, the nicotine in tobacco, a prescription drug or an illegal chemical such as cocaine or heroin) — even when the user knows that doing so risks severe health or legal consequences.
addiction: The National Institute of Drug Abuse defines this as a complex chronic disease that is “characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences.” A first exposure to drugs is usually voluntary. But repeated use of certain drugs, NIDA explains, can create changes in the brain that make it hard “to resist intense urges to take drugs.”
addictive: An adjective to describe something that become habit-forming in an uncontrolled or unhealthy way. This can include a drug or some habit (such as video game playing or phone texting). Such addictions reflect an illness triggered by brain changes that occur after using some drugs or engaging in some extremely pleasurable activities. People with an addiction will feel a compelling need to use a drug (which can be alcohol, the nicotine in tobacco, a prescription drug or an illegal chemical such as cocaine or heroin), even when the user knows that doing so risks severe health or legal consequences.
ancestor: A predecessor. It could be a family forebear, such as a parent, grandparent or great-great-great grandparent. Or it could be a species, genus, family or other order of organisms from which some later one…
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