tab ‧ let S3 /ˈtæblət, ˈtæblɪt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: tablete , from table ]
1 . a small round hard piece of medicine which you swallow SYN pill :
She took a couple of headache tablets.
vitamin/sleeping/indigestion etc tablet
2 . a small hard piece of a substance, especially one that ↑ dissolve s in water:
water purification tablets
3 . a flat piece of stone or clay with words cut into it, for example above someone’s ↑ grave
4 . be written/set/cast in tablets of stone British English used to say that something does not change:
The programme should not be set in tablets of stone, but improved continuously.
5 . American English a set of pieces of paper for writing on that are glued together at the top SYN pad British English
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ take a tablet (=swallow it)
Have you taken your tablets?
▪ be on tablets spoken (=be taking tablets)
He's on tablets for his heart.
▪ swallow a tablet
He took his own life by swallowing more than 500 tablets.
▪ a doctor prescribes tablets (=tells someone to take them)
Dr Preston arrived and prescribed some pain-relieving tablets.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + tablet
▪ a sleeping tablet
Sleeping tablets can be addictive.
▪ a headache/indigestion etc tablet
Do you want a headache tablet?
▪ a paracetamol/quinine/iron etc tablet
She's on iron tablets for her anaemia.
▪ a vitamin tablet
Are all these vitamin tablets really necessary?
■ phrases
▪ in tablet form
Although this drug is available in tablet form it is often prescribed as a powder.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ medicine noun [uncountable and countable] a substance used for treating illness:
Certain medicines should not be taken with alcohol.
|
Has he taken his medicine?
▪ pill noun [countable] a small piece of medicine that you swallow:
She managed to swallow the pill with a sip of water.
|
The doctor gave him some pills.
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sleeping pills
|
diet pills
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contraceptive pills
▪ tablet noun [countable] especially British English a small piece of solid medicine:
She's now on four tablets a day.
|
a five-day course of tablets
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sleeping tablets
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anti-malaria tablets
▪ antibiotics/aspirin/codeine etc :
The doctor put him on a course of antibiotics.
|
Why don’t you take some aspirin?
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The tablets contain codeine, which is unsuitable for people with asthma.
▪ capsule noun [countable] a small tube-shaped container with medicine inside that you swallow whole:
a bottle of 500 capsules of vitamin C
|
I advised her to take four to six garlic capsules a day for the duration of the treatment.
▪ caplet noun [countable] a small smooth pill that is slightly longer than it is wide - used especially on bottles and containers:
In small type, the consumer is warned not to take more than one caplet per day.
▪ eye/ear drops liquid medicine that you put into your eye or ear:
Remember — if you 're using eye drops for your hay fever, leave your contact lenses out.
▪ cream noun [uncountable and countable] especially British English ( also lotion especially American English ) a thick smooth substance containing medicine, that you put on your skin:
an antibiotic cream
|
antiseptic cream
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skin cream
▪ drug noun [countable] a medicine or a substance for making medicines:
a drug used to treat malaria
|
There are a wide range of different drugs on the market.
▪ dosage noun [countable usually singular] the amount of medicine that you should take at one time:
The dosage should be reduced to 0.5 mg.
|
It’s important to get the dosage right.
▪ medication noun [uncountable and countable] medicine or drugs given to someone who is ill:
He takes medication for his diabetes.
|
She’s on medication (=taking medication) , having suffered from depression for a number of years.