prescription

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A written order from a doctor saying which medicine a patient should receive and how to take it.

   Grammar: Takes 'for' to name the medicine: a prescription for antibiotics.

   Patterns

   • a prescription for something
   • write/issue a prescription
   • fill a prescription

   The doctor wrote me a prescription for antibiotics.

   You can fill this prescription at any pharmacy near your home.

   She lost the prescription and had to phone the clinic for a copy.

2. 2noununcountableBritish

   The arrangement under which certain medicines can be supplied only with a doctor's written order.

   Grammar: Uncountable; British English says 'on prescription', American English says 'by prescription'.

   Patterns

   • available on prescription
   • get something on prescription

   These tablets are only available on prescription, not over the counter.

   Strong painkillers cannot be bought without a prescription.

3. 3nouncountablefigurative

   A recommended plan or set of actions intended to solve a problem or improve a situation.

   Grammar: Figurative use; keeps the countable pattern 'a prescription for something'.

   Patterns

   • a prescription for something

   Cutting interest rates is his prescription for the economic crisis.

   There is no simple prescription for rebuilding trust in a team.

Word forms

Common combinations

prescription drug/medication

Prescription drugs must be stored where children cannot reach them.

fill a prescription

I filled my prescription on the way home from the hospital.

write a prescription

Only a qualified doctor can write a prescription for this medicine.

on prescription

You pay a fixed charge for each medicine you get on prescription.

repeat prescription

The pharmacy prepared my repeat prescription without a new appointment.

Synonyms and how they differ

recipe

Recipe is used in the same figurative way ('a recipe for success'), but it suggests ingredients or steps and often warns of failure, while prescription suggests a cure or official remedy.

doctor's order

An informal phrase, common in American English, for the written instruction itself; it cannot be used for the figurative sense of a plan.

Opposites

Word family

prescribe verb

To officially order a medicine, or to set down a rule.

prescriber noun

A person, usually a doctor, who writes prescriptions.

prescriptive adjective

Telling people exactly what they must do; rule-giving.

Commonly confused: prescription or proscription?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “prescription”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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