prescribe

views updated

pre·scribe / priˈskrīb/ • v. [tr.] (of a medical practitioner) advise and authorize the use of (a medicine or treatment) for someone, esp. in writing: Dr. Greene prescribed magnesium sulfate | the doctor prescribed her a drug called amantadine. ∎  recommend (a substance or action) as something beneficial: marriage is often prescribed as a universal remedy. ∎  state authoritatively or as a rule that (an action or procedure) should be carried out: rules prescribing five acts for a play are purely arbitrary | [as adj.] (prescribed) doing things in the prescribed manner. DERIVATIVES: pre·scrib·er n.