- 1[transitive] to make someone decide to do something; to cause something to happen synonym provoke prompt something The discovery of the bomb prompted an increase in security. His speech prompted an angry outburst from a man in the crowd. prompt somebody to do something The thought of her daughter's wedding day prompted her to lose some weight.
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- 2[transitive] to encourage someone to speak by asking them questions or suggesting words that they could say prompt somebody She was too nervous to speak and had to be prompted. prompt somebody to do something (computing) The program will prompt you to enter data where required. prompt (somebody) + speech “And then what happened?” he prompted.
- 3[transitive, intransitive] prompt (somebody) to follow the text of a play and remind the actors what the words are if they forget their lines
prompt
verbNAmE//prɑmpt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they prompt he / she / it prompts
past simple prompted
-ing form prompting
Check pronunciation: prompt