prepped; prepping
: prepare
especially
: to prepare for an operation or examination
nurses prepped the patient
pre-exposure prophylaxis
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that PrEP, when used consistently, can reduce the risk of H.I.V. infection by up to 92 percent.—
Ginia Bellafante
Ginia BellafanteExamples of prep in a Sentence
Noun
Painting a room involves a lot of prep.
Verb
She spent all night prepping for the test.
The runners are prepping themselves for the race.
It took me about 20 minutes to prep the vegetables.
Recent Examples on the Web
Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Oct. 2025
Over the course of the fellowship, participants met virtually twice a week with program leaders, receiving guidance on all facets of directing — from networking and prep to representation.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2025
New Atlas, 31 Oct. 2025
Instead, prep the day before as much as possible, assemble things before guests arrive, and save cleaning until after.
—Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 18 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prep
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Noun
Professional-Style Dual-Fuel Range Hudson's large range, with multiple burners and an integrated griddle, allows for the simultaneous prep of several dishes.
—Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Oct. 2025
Over the course of the fellowship, participants met virtually twice a week with program leaders, receiving guidance on all facets of directing — from networking and prep to representation.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2025
Verb
To prep it for between-ride transport, the center kickstand is deployed.
—New Atlas, 31 Oct. 2025
Instead, prep the day before as much as possible, assemble things before guests arrive, and save cleaning until after.
—Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 18 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prep
Cite this Entry
“Prep.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prep. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
prep
1 of 3 noun
: the act or an instance of preparing a patient for a surgical operation
the nurse had three preps to do
prep
2 of 3 transitive verb
prepped; prepping
: to prepare for a surgical operation or examination
prep the patient for an appendectomy
PrEP
3 of 3 abbreviation
pre-exposure prophylaxis
The introduction of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has shown significant promise in reducing the rate of HIV incidence. … Although nearly 1.2 million people could benefit from PrEP, AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) estimates that ~130,000–135,000 individuals were actively on PrEP in late 2019—meaning <15% of individuals in need of PrEP had a current prescription.—Benedikt Pleuhs et al., AIDS Patient Care and STDs
Benedikt Pleuhs et al., AIDS Patient Care and STDsLove words? Need even more definitions?
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