Tablet

How it is used

The most common dosage form. Tablets can be film-coated, scored (with a line so they can be broken), chewable, dispersible, effervescent or modified-release. Patients often just say 'pills'. A frequent counselling question is whether a tablet can be crushed or split.

Example sentences

1. These tablets have a special coating, so swallow them whole rather than chewing them.

2. Her mother can't swallow tablets, so we're looking for a liquid alternative.

Common collocations

• take a tablet
• swallow a tablet whole
• film-coated tablet
• crush a tablet
• split a tablet

Related terms

• capsuleA solid dosage form in which the medicine is held inside a small shell, usually made of gelatin, that dissolves in the stomach or intestine.
• dosage formThe physical form in which a medicine is made and given, such as a tablet, capsule, syrup, cream, injection, patch or suppository.
• enteric-coatedDescribes a tablet or capsule with a special coating that does not dissolve in stomach acid but breaks down later, in the small intestine.
• modified-releaseDescribes a tablet or capsule designed to release its drug slowly, or at a particular time or place, rather than all at once after swallowing.
• excipientAny ingredient in a medicine other than the active ingredient, such as a filler, binder, colouring, sweetener or preservative, that helps the product work and keep.

This word in other fields

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

• tablet · Medicine

More terms: Dosage Forms

• active ingredient
• suspension
• ointment
• inhaler