prescribe
Americanverb (used with object)
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prescribes,
present (3rd person singular)
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prescribed,
past participle, past
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prescribing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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prescribes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
prescribed,
past participle, past
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prescribing
present participle
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Medicine/Medical. to designate remedies, treatment, etc., to be used.
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Law. to claim a right or title by virtue of long use and enjoyment; make a prescriptive claim. (usually followed by for orto ).
verb
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to lay down as a rule or directive
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law to claim or acquire (a right, title, etc) by prescription
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law to make or become invalid or unenforceable by lapse of time
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med to recommend or order the use of (a drug or other remedy)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonprescribernoun
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prescribernoun
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misprescribeverb
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overprescribeverb
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represcribeverb (used with object)
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prescribableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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prescribesimple
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prescribessimple
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have prescribedperfect
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has prescribedperfect
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am prescribingprogressive
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are prescribingprogressive
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is prescribingprogressive
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have been prescribingperfect progressive
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has been prescribingperfect progressive
Past
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prescribedsimple
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had prescribedperfect
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was prescribingprogressive
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were prescribingprogressive
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had been prescribingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prescribe
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English from Latin praescrībere “to direct in writing,” literally, “to write before or above,” equivalent to prae- pre- + scrībere “to write”; see scribe 1, prescription
Explanation
To prescribe is make orders or give directions for something to be done. These days, the word is mainly used by doctors who prescribe medications to take. Doctors do a lot of prescribing: they prescribe drugs, rest, exercise, and getting rid of bad habits like smoking. When a doctor prescribes something, he or she is saying, "You need to do this. You should do it." That's the most common use of prescribe, but it pops up anywhere someone is advising or ordering someone to do something. All laws and rules prescribe things — they tell you what to do.
Vocabulary lists containing prescribe
Vocabulary from the Constitution of the United States
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"Preamble" and "Bill of Rights," Vocabulary from the U.S. Constitution
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Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The companies don’t prescribe a particular method for the AI to follow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
Done, which continues to operate under a different name, previously said it is a technology platform that connects patients with medical professionals and doesn’t prescribe medications.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The findings added to the concerns that some critics have raised about compounding pharmacies and telehealth companies, which they say are too quick to prescribe.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
In medical settings even a small gift from a drug company — like a box of doughnuts — can lead doctors to prescribe its brands more often.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
He gets a sense of control, yet you prescribe the limits.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
"I want every person who prescribes the drug to warn women of the possible side effects," she added.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
When he gets sedentary patients, Alter prescribes exercise like a drug.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
The book under discussion is “The New Rules” by Russian-born TikTok influencer Margarita Nazarenko, who prescribes gender roles that Sokol recognizes as distinctly Eastern European.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
The law on “promoting ethnic unity and progress” prescribes efforts to build a “shared spiritual home” for all ethnic groups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
He’s the one who prescribes me meds and sends me to people like Dr. Minerva.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
By one measure, the area in Canada treated with prescribed burns annually collapsed from more than 35,000 hectares in 1990 to 182 hectares in 2023, a 99.5% decline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
She added that pet owners deserved "accurate, evidence-based guidance on the need for, and risks of, the existing and new chemicals which are being prescribed".
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Read also: It can take as little as 5 minutes online to get prescribed a GLP-1 for weight loss.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
Which “widely prescribed medications” might the report be talking about?
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
An optometer is an instrument for measuring refractive errors in eyes— in order that corrective lenses may be prescribed.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
Josh said the GP "found nothing wrong", prescribing more painkillers and referring him to an optician, where again no issue was found.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Jessica Scheer, CEO of National Eating Disorders Association, said the organization has heard that some providers don’t screen for a history of disordered eating before prescribing GLP-1s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
"There is no uniform national framework prescribing consistent standards of financial transparency across all religious institutions," said Sonam Chandwani, managing partner at KS Legal & Associates.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
According to both Miller and Han, improving education at every step of the prescribing process, from the doctor's office to the pharmacy counter, could help prevent many of these medication errors.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
So I fall back on the support networks of my real-life social class, call the dermatologist I know in Key West, and bludgeon him into prescribing something sight unseen.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
