Definition of "underdose" in Englisch

noun

1. An inadequate dose (of a medication).

2. (figuratively) An inadequate amount of something.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To administer an inadequate dose (to someone or to oneself).

   • 1945, Alexander Fleming, Nobel acceptance speech, cited in Jenny Rohn, “The hunt is on for new antibiotics—but we have to start looking outside the lab,” The Guardian, 19 February, 2015, The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops. Then there is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant.
   • 2016, Kelly Close, letter to the editor, The New York Times, 29 February, 2016, It is true that insulin costs are high; as a result some patients may underdose. We need better reimbursement to address that.

2. (transitive) To administer an inadequate dose of (a medication).

3. (figuratively, intransitive) To use a scant or inadequate amount of an ingredient or product.