Take Antibiotics: Meaning & How to Use

Meaning 1：take antibiotics (Take antibiotics)

Take antibiotics 🔊

/teɪk ˌæntɪbaɪˈɒtɪks/

v. phr.

To use medicine prescribed by a doctor to fight bacterial infections.

Person taking antibiotics pill with water in clinic

take antibiotics 🔊

➕

/teɪk ˌæntɪbaɪˈɒtɪks/

v. phr.

To consume prescribed medication that kills or inhibits the growth of bacteria.

📁 Category：Behaviors & Actions 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

Anti- (against) + bio (life) + -tic (adjective suffix) = against life (bacteria).

💡 Mnemonic

Think 'anti' means against and 'biotics' means life; antibiotics fight bacterial life.

📖 Example

The doctor told me to take antibiotics twice a day for my sore throat. 🔊 The doctor told me to take antibiotics twice a day for my sore throat.

🔗 Collocations

prescribe antibiotics – to order antibiotics for a patient

finish the course of antibiotics – to complete the full duration of antibiotic treatment

antibiotic resistance – when bacteria become resistant to antibiotics

🔄 Synonyms

take antimicrobials (v. phr.) – to consume drugs that fight microorganisms

use antibiotics (v. phr.) – to administer antibiotic drugs as treatment

🚫 Antonyms

stop taking antibiotics (v. phr.) – to discontinue antibiotic treatment before completion

📖 Cultural Story

Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin in 1928, leading to modern antibiotics. The term 'antibiotic' was coined by Selman Waksman in 1941.