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Medicine vocabulary · Prescriptions and Medication

Tablet

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˈtæblət/nounCore term

In medicine, tablet means: A small, solid, usually round piece of medicine that is swallowed; some have a line across them so they can be split in half.

In Turkish: tablet, hap

How it is used

Doctors and pharmacists use patterns such as 'take one tablet twice a day' and give the strength ('a 5 mg tablet'). Related forms are capsules, modified-release tablets and dispersible tablets. In US everyday speech 'pill' is more common.

Example sentences

  1. These tablets should be swallowed whole, not crushed.

  2. He finds the tablets hard to swallow, so we'll ask the pharmacy for a liquid form.

Common collocations

  • take a tablet
  • crush a tablet
  • film-coated tablet
  • tablet form
  • sleeping tablets
  • medicationA substance used to treat, prevent or relieve the symptoms of a disease; also the whole set of drugs a patient takes.
  • doseThe amount of a medicine taken or given at one time, for example 500 mg, often stated together with how often it is taken.
  • orallyBy mouth, so that a medicine is swallowed rather than injected, inhaled or put on the skin.
  • prescriptionA doctor's written or electronic instruction saying which medicine a patient should get, how much, how often and for how long.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Prescriptions and Medication

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.