medicate

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 Even with a house call, your dog may still need to be medicated to reduce her stress. — Cathy M. Rosenthal, chicagotribune.com, "Pet World: A vet who does house calls may help reduce pet’s fear," 23 Aug. 2019 Before February 2018, when his son overdosed on fentanyl, Gary Carter thought the worst was over after a yearslong habit of self-medicating to soothe recovery from knee surgeries and flare-ups of an autoimmune disease. — Alison Kuznitz, BostonGlobe.com, "‘These are all people’s children’: Protesters remember addiction victims as Purdue Pharma seeks to dismiss Mass. lawsuit," 2 Aug. 2019 But if that horse is medicated, the vet might not detect an issue that could later prove fatal. — Nick Watt, CNN, "Santa Anita track owners and trainers under investigation after 29 horse deaths," 21 June 2019 What resources are available for someone who is clinically depressed and self-medicating? -- TRYING TO HELP IN THE WEST DEAR TRYING: Support groups for people who are depressed and/or have emotional issues exist. — Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, "Dear Abby: How to help a friend who’s struggled with depression for years, but isn’t interested in help," 13 Sep. 2019 Durham later told reporters that Haskell is medicated and sedated. — Washington Post, "Prosecutor: Man accused of killing 6 ‘fueled by vengeance’," 26 Aug. 2019 In March, Belinda Stronach announced in an open letter sweeping changes in the way horses would be medicated and examined at Santa Anita. — Tod Leonard, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Del Mar set to open as scrutiny of racing intensifies," 15 July 2019 But people are suffering, being badly medicated and dying every day. — Travis Rieder, WSJ, "The Perilous Blessing of Opioids," 14 June 2019 By increasing carb intake, women may be self-medicating with food to cause that serotonin bump in order to feel better. — Sara Twogood, Quartz, "The science behind why you crave carbs when you’re on your period," 7 Aug. 2019

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.