chem

1. (uncountable, university slang, often capitalized) Clipping of chemistry (“branch of natural science”), usually referring to the subject or the department.Examples: "It boils down to science. Biology, chemistry and physics. I used to hate bio and chem. Now they fascinate me because I’ve realised they make up the world around us as well as us."abbreviationalt-ofcapitalizedclippingoftenuncountable

2. (countable, informal, often in the plural) Clipping of chemical.Examples: "The seas, morosely fished by Ethan and the others, are heavily polluted, with Ethan informing Timothy, who risked a freezing dip: “If the tide doesn’t get you, the chems will. You want to stay healthy past forty, alive past fifty, you’ll remember to stay well out of the water.”"; "The baby's parents tell of how they wash him with "fresh fluoride chlorine chemical-free water from the sky" and how those with him now are most likely "using artificial perfume and bathing him in chems"."abbreviationalt-ofclippingcountablein-pluralinformaloften

3. (countable, informal, often in the plural) Clipping of chemical.Examples: "This is the very opposite of what we’ve called for — namely, for Biden to publicly identify in advance a specific US (at least) hard-power response to Putin’s use of chems (or other weapons of mass destruction)."countablein-pluralinformaloftenuncountable

4. (countable, informal, often in the plural) Clipping of chemical.Examples: "“I actively searched for someone to tell me how they’d made an informed and calculated choice to use chems and, that for them, the chem scene is just recreation.” […] “Even those who told me sex on chems made them feel ‘like a don’ would follow up such celebratory statements with tales of rejection, regret, loneliness and longing for intimacy,” he said."; "When you think ‘drugs’, you think Trainspotting. ‘Chems’ is easier off the tongue and, although explicit, it doesn't feel quite as bad. At least to us."Synonyms: recreational drug, drug, dope, gear, horse, stuff, substancecountablein-pluralinformaloftenuncountable