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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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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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:
Doctors often prescribe blood thinners to these patients to reduce the chance of blood clots and stroke.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
Morgentaler describes getting calls “all the time”—for instance, from men completely unable to find a physician to prescribe testosterone therapy.
From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2026
She said each of the seven health boards in Wales used a traffic light system - some are red, meaning only specialists can prescribe the drug.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
So does the glowing inhibitor on his spine, which seems to ask if we’re too quick to prescribe medication for our problems.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
And third, genes had to explain development: How could individual units of instruction prescribe the code to create a mature organism out of an embryo?
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
United States in 1929 that where Congress prescribes the exclusive method for compromising tax liability, informal settlements by officials, however senior, do not bind the United States.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
"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
Drawas says a longevity doctor prescribes them for him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
One of the few local documents to survive from this time, the so-called Constitution of Cyrene, prescribes the kind of political machinery one might expect in a wholly independent polis.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
But the GLP-1s are increasingly being researched, used experimentally, and even prescribed off-label to treat a range of other conditions in which they show promise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The team evaluated each possible cascade using three measures: how frequently the first medication was prescribed, how often a second medication followed it, and how strongly the two prescriptions appeared to be connected.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
It reports middle-aged people with no memory problems are to be prescribed an Alzheimer's drug in a trial aiming to prevent dementia, with the first participants expected to be screened from Monday.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
He decried “the experts and politicians who have prescribed, encouraged, and applauded the disintegration of such farming communities all over this country into our allegedly miraculous modern American agriculture.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
The knock is prescribed: the sitting room is supposed to be Serena Joy’s territory, he’s supposed to ask permission to enter it.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
Ms. Berg is careful to add that “we refrain from prescribing to people what they should think.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
And while promising, some doctors are still cautious about off-label prescribing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
"I guess it's safe to say that the line between war and peace has been blurred, and that's the new reality that we live with in Europe right now," he said, prescribing his Nordic remedy.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
The researchers say technology could provide one way to reduce these potentially harmful prescribing patterns.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 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.
