medicate
verb
med·i·cate
ˈme-di-ˌkāt 
medicated; medicating
1
: to treat (someone or something) with or as if with medicine
medicate a condition
was medicated for pain/depression
… is happily living his life one day at a time since he stopped drinking and otherwise medicating himself …—
Charles Leerhsen
Charles Leerhsen2
: to impregnate with a medicinal substance
medicated soap
Examples of medicate in a Sentence
The patient had been heavily medicated.
Recent Examples on the Web
People commonly use recreational drugs to medicate mental health problems, whether that’s stimulants for depression or alcohol for social anxiety, said Dr. James Besante of the Santa Fe Recovery Center in New Mexico.
—Meg Wingerter, The Denver Post, 14 Apr. 2024
In addition to weekly therapy, he was eventually medicated.
—David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024
Until then, Kerr had worked in the conventional medical system, focused on patients who were often tethered to machines or heavily medicated.
—Phoebe Zerwick, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2024
There’s a way to medicate it, which is just taking medicine every single day.
—Jane Thier, Fortune, 4 Feb. 2024
Veterinarians will sometimes medicate dogs with prescription drugs to deal with depression
Dogs can suffer from depression, studies have shown.
—Nicholas Rice, Peoplemag, 28 Jan. 2024
There is no law requiring accommodation for medicating on the job or protection from termination.
—Peter Hecht, Sacramento Bee, 21 Feb. 2024
Starting in the nineteen-nineties, however, farmers began to medicate their livestock with drugs that were toxic to vultures.
—Meera Subramanian, The New Yorker, 31 Jan. 2024
Veterinarians will sometimes medicate dogs with prescription drugs, similar to ones that humans take for depression, including Zoloft and Xanax.
—Nicholas Rice, Peoplemag, 28 Jan. 2024
Meg Wingerter, The Denver Post, 14 Apr. 2024
In addition to weekly therapy, he was eventually medicated.
—David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024
Until then, Kerr had worked in the conventional medical system, focused on patients who were often tethered to machines or heavily medicated.
—Phoebe Zerwick, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2024
There’s a way to medicate it, which is just taking medicine every single day.
—Jane Thier, Fortune, 4 Feb. 2024
Veterinarians will sometimes medicate dogs with prescription drugs to deal with depression
Dogs can suffer from depression, studies have shown.
—Nicholas Rice, Peoplemag, 28 Jan. 2024
There is no law requiring accommodation for medicating on the job or protection from termination.
—Peter Hecht, Sacramento Bee, 21 Feb. 2024
Starting in the nineteen-nineties, however, farmers began to medicate their livestock with drugs that were toxic to vultures.
—Meera Subramanian, The New Yorker, 31 Jan. 2024
Veterinarians will sometimes medicate dogs with prescription drugs, similar to ones that humans take for depression, including Zoloft and Xanax.
—Nicholas Rice, Peoplemag, 28 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'medicate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near medicate
Cite this Entry
“Medicate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medicate. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
medicate
transitive verb
med·i·cate
ˈmed-ə-ˌkāt
medicated; medicating
1
: to treat medicinally
2
: to impregnate with a medicinal substance
medicated soap
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