medicate

verb

med·i·cate | \ ˈme-di-ˌkāt

medicated; medicating

Definition of medicate

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

2 : 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

It was stocked with tubes of Vagisil, medicated vaginal wipes, pads. — Sarah Chaves, Glamour, "I Poured Listerine on My Vulva In a Desperate Attempt to Cure a Yeast Infection," 11 Apr. 2019 Currently, the PowerSpot collection includes a clay mask, two spot treatments, medicated pads, and treatment concealer. — Karina Hoshikawa, Allure, "Exclusive: M-61 Is Launching a Cleanser and Moisturizer for Adult Acne," 11 Mar. 2019 People are self-medicating for several different reasons and every agency — police, fire, medical, hospitals — all are strained at this time. — Frank Miles, Fox News, "More than 70 people overdose in New Haven as park visitors watch in horror," 16 Aug. 2018 And with the anxiety levels, some of these kids are being medicated for mental-health issues that are stemming from youth sports decisions. — Tyler Kepner, New York Times, "How the Mariners Found Their Way After Losing Robinson Cano," 9 June 2018 Moreover, a 2015 CNN investigation found that air marshals were often medicated to help them sleep and, because of their hectic schedule, were also often sleep-deprived. — John Mueller, Vox, "Airline terrorist attacks are extremely rare. It’s one reason TSA’s Quiet Skies program is a waste of money.," 4 Aug. 2018 Shorten ended up in the hospital and was medicated until the nail passed through her system. — Mandy Major, Woman's Day, "10 Strange Objects Found in Food," 3 Nov. 2010 All of this trying to outrun the past with self-medicating and self-harm, instead of confronting it and trying to actually move forward. — Cady Drell, Marie Claire, "Pointed Observations About Sharp Objects Episode 4," 30 July 2018 Instead of self-medicating with alcohol, Bingham sought the help of a therapist, who counseled her on how to work through the issues with her husband. — Devin Tomb, Good Housekeeping, "“At 54, I Don’t Feel As Hopeful”: The Untold Story of Suicide in the U.S.," 21 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'medicate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.