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
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
While somewhat effective treatments are available, many people do not get adequate care, in part due to fears over medicating while pregnant, writes the Guardian’s Hannah Devlin.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Dec. 2023
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
While somewhat effective treatments are available, many people do not get adequate care, in part due to fears over medicating while pregnant, writes the Guardian’s Hannah Devlin.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Dec. 2023
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.
Word History
Etymology
Latin medicatus, past participle of medicare to heal, from medicus
First Known Use
circa 1623, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing medicate
Dictionary Entries Near medicate
Cite this Entry
“Medicate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medicate. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Medical 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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