PRESCRIPTION

prescription

Noun

  1. The act of prescribing a rule, law, etc..
    "Jurisdiction to prescribe" is a state's authority to make its laws applicable to certain persons or activities. -- Richard G. Alexander, Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996: Congress exceeds its jurisdiction to prescribe law. Washington and Lee Law Review, 1997.
  2. A period of time within which a right must be exercised, unless the right is extinguished.
    The prescription governing the victim’s right to enter a charge shall be interrupted by virtue of section 95 of the Criminal Code.
  3. A written order, as by a physician, for the administration of a medicine or other intervention. See also scrip.
    The surgeon wrote a prescription for a pain killer and physical therapy.
  4. The prescription medicine or intervention so prescribed.
    The pharmacist gave her a bottle containing her prescription.
  5. The formal description of the lens geometry needed for spectacles, etc..
    The optician followed the optometrist's prescription for her new eyeglasses.
  6. A piece of advice.
    "Early to bed and early to rise" is a prescription for a healthy lifestyle.

Adjective

prescription

  1. (of a drug, etc.) only available with a physician's written prescription
    Many powerful pain killers are prescription drugs in the U.S.


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