Word.ws English Dictionary

prescribing

prescribing is the present participle and gerund of prescribe.

Meaning of prescribe

Verb

prescribe (third-person singular simple present prescribes, present participle prescribing, simple past and past participle prescribed)

  1. To order (a drug or medical device) for use by a particular patient (under licensed authority).
    • The doctor prescribed aspirin.
  2. To specify by writing as a required procedure or ritual; to lay down authoritatively as a guide, direction, or rule of action.
    • The property meets the criteria prescribed by the regulations.
  3. To develop or assert a right; to make a claim (by prescription).
    • Most probable that one presentation and 40 years possession thereafter, is sufficient to prescribe a right of patronage.1753, Andrew McDouall, An Institute of the Laws of Scotland in Civil Rights […] , volume 3, Table of Contents, page 86
  4. To become invalidated or unenforceable by prescription, to lapse

Questions about prescribing

What is prescribing the present participle and gerund of?
Prescribing is the present participle and gerund of prescribe.

Words near prescribing in the dictionary

  1. prescriber
  2. prescribers
  3. prescribes
  4. prescribest
  5. prescribeth
  6. prescribing
  7. prescript
  8. prescriptable
  9. prescripted
  10. prescriptibility
  11. prescriptible

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: prescribing (page history and authors); prescribe (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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