MEANING
1. To state authoritatively what must be done or how something must occur.
2. To recommend or order a treatment through appropriate medical authority.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- prescribe a procedure
- prescribe limits
On the page
The policy prescribes a separate review for high-risk cases.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- prescribe
- Past tense
- prescribed
- Past participle
- prescribed
- Present participle
- prescribing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- prescribe
- Present continuous
- am/is/are prescribing
- Present perfect
- have/has prescribed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been prescribing
- Past
- prescribed
- Past continuous
- was/were prescribing
- Past perfect
- had prescribed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been prescribing
- Future
- will prescribe
- Future continuous
- will be prescribing
- Future perfect
- will have prescribed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been prescribing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: prescribe; prescribes; prescribed; prescribed; prescribing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, qualification. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: prescribes.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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