prepped; prepping
: prepare
especially
: to prepare for an operation or examination
nurses prepped the patient
pre-exposure prophylaxis
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that PrEP, when used consistently, can reduce the risk of H.I.V. infection by up to 92 percent.—
Ginia Bellafante
Ginia BellafanteExamples of prep in a Sentence
Noun
Painting a room involves a lot of prep.
Verb
She spent all night prepping for the test.
The runners are prepping themselves for the race.
It took me about 20 minutes to prep the vegetables.
Recent Examples on the Web
Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Apr. 2026
Meal preps that can be frozen and reheated later or slow cooker meals can provide healthy meals without adding a huge task to the list.
—Dr. Sarah Kinsella, Boston Herald, 5 Apr. 2026
Lisa Butterworth, Martha Stewart, 1 Apr. 2026
Groffenberger said the city’s deficit does not include the BPS shortfall, as the city and schools prep separate budgets.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for prep
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Noun
And while not officially linked to the spa, the morning yoga classes for Retreat guests were the perfect prep for a day of pampering.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Apr. 2026
Meal preps that can be frozen and reheated later or slow cooker meals can provide healthy meals without adding a huge task to the list.
—Dr. Sarah Kinsella, Boston Herald, 5 Apr. 2026
Verb
Choose Your Produce To prep an array of fruits and vegetables, from red strawberries to golden or violet beets and the shades in between, start by sourcing your ingredients.
—Lisa Butterworth, Martha Stewart, 1 Apr. 2026
Groffenberger said the city’s deficit does not include the BPS shortfall, as the city and schools prep separate budgets.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for prep
Cite this Entry
“Prep.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prep. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
prep
1 of 3 noun
: the act or an instance of preparing a patient for a surgical operation
the nurse had three preps to do
prep
2 of 3 transitive verb
prepped; prepping
: to prepare for a surgical operation or examination
prep the patient for an appendectomy
PrEP
3 of 3 abbreviation
pre-exposure prophylaxis
The introduction of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has shown significant promise in reducing the rate of HIV incidence. … Although nearly 1.2 million people could benefit from PrEP, AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) estimates that ~130,000–135,000 individuals were actively on PrEP in late 2019—meaning <15% of individuals in need of PrEP had a current prescription.—Benedikt Pleuhs et al., AIDS Patient Care and STDs
Benedikt Pleuhs et al., AIDS Patient Care and STDsLove words? Need even more definitions?
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