Took an excessive amount of a drug, usually resulting in harmful or dangerous effects on the body.
From 'over-' (excessively) + 'dose' (amount of medicine), from Latin 'dosis' (portion). The term emerged in the 1800s as medicines became more standardized and measurable.
The opioid crisis became visible when 'overdose' stopped being a rare individual tragedy and started being counted in tens of thousands annually—suddenly the word described an epidemic, not just an accident.
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