lozenge

/ˈlɑzəndʒ/

/ˈlɒzɪndʒ/

Other forms: lozenges

A lozenge is a kind of medicated candy that soothes your sore throat. If you've got a dry cough, you should drink some water and try sucking on a lozenge.

You might call a lozenge a "cough drop" or "pastille." Some have ingredients that ease the scratchy throat that causes coughing, and others are meant to relieve the discomfort of a sore throat. The word lozenge can also refer to a diamond shape. The tile on your bathroom floor might be a pattern of blue and white lozenges. Throat lozenges were originally diamond-shaped, hence the name.

Definitions of lozenge

1. noun

   a small aromatic or medicated candy
   types:

   cachou

   a scented lozenge used to sweeten the breath (e.g. to conceal the odor of tobacco)

   cough drop, pastil, pastille, troche

   a medicated lozenge used to soothe the throat

   type of:

   candy, confect

   a rich sweet made of flavored sugar and often combined with fruit or nuts
2. noun

   a dose of medicine in the form of a small pellet
   synonyms: pill, tab, tablet

   types:

   bolus

   a large pill; used especially in veterinary medicine

   capsule

   a pill in the form of a small rounded gelatinous container with medicine inside

   dragee

   pill that is a sugar-coated medicated candy

   sleeping capsule, sleeping draught, sleeping pill, sleeping tablet

   a soporific drug in the form of a pill (or tablet or capsule)

   type of:

   dosage, dose

   a measured portion of medicine taken at any one time
3. noun

   a parallelogram with four equal sides; an oblique-angled equilateral parallelogram
   synonyms: diamond, rhomb, rhombus

   type of:

   parallelogram

   a quadrilateral whose opposite sides are both parallel and equal in length