prompt

Less common meanings

7. 7
   text for AInouncountable

   Text entered into a large language model or image generator to make it produce a desired output.

   He tweaked the prompt several times to get the tone he wanted.

   A vague prompt to the chatbot usually gets a vague answer.

   UsageYou write a prompt, or give a model a prompt.

   Similarquery, instruction, request, input

   Note

   In this sense the cue runs the other way: a person writes the prompt and the model answers it. Steven Johnson describes how he 'gave GPT-3 the prompt' to write an essay on Italo Calvino, which shows the usual construction, giving a model a prompt. It is close in spirit to the writer's prompt: a starting suggestion that something else turns into finished text or images. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Steven Johnson wrote that he 'gave GPT-3 the prompt' to write an essay about Italo Calvino. s10251.pcdn.co
8. 8
   instruct AIverbtransitive

   To supply an artificial intelligence or language model with text input so that it produces a desired output.

   He prompted the language model to draft three different openings.

   Analysts prompt the assistant with clear, structured requests.

   UsageOften prompt a model to do something, or prompt it with instructions.

   Similarinstruct, ask, query, direct

   Note

   This sense reverses the older computing verb: there the machine prompts the person, and here the person prompts the machine. The instruction is often written in ordinary language, though prompts can also include code. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The computing verb in which a system prompts a person predates modern AI prompting. vtda.org
   • In AI prompting, a person supplies input to guide the model. docs.cloud.google.com
9. 9
   on timeadjective

   Punctual; arriving or done at the scheduled time.

   The committee values members who are prompt and prepared.

   Please be prompt, because the meeting starts at nine sharp.

   UsageUsually after be: be prompt for a meeting; promptly at nine means exactly at nine.

   Similarpunctual, timely

   Oppositelate, tardy, unpunctual

10. 10
    whispered linenouncountable

    A cue fed to an actor by the prompter, consisting of a word, phrase, or line of the script the actor has forgotten.

    A whispered prompt from the wings got the show back on track.

    The actor missed his line and waited for a prompt.

    Similarcue, reminder

    Note

    Theater's narrowing of a reminder or cue: the word, phrase or whole line a prompter feeds an actor who has lost the script. Its size matches the lapse, since a single word may be enough to restart a speech. The person who supplies it is the prompter, and the act of supplying it is the theatrical verb. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The theatrical meaning is a specialized reminder or cue, supplying forgotten script words to an actor. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    remind (actor)verbtransitive

    To tell or show an actor or speaker the words they should say or the actions they should perform.

    The prompter quietly prompted the lead through a tricky monologue.

    Crew members prompt actors who forget their cues.

    UsageThe object is usually the performer: you prompt an actor who forgets a line.

    Similarcue, remind

    Note

    It is narrower than the encouraging verb, since the words or actions are already fixed by a script. The sense also reaches beyond the stage to television, and to anyone who has to be shown what to say or do next.

12. 12
    adjectivearchaic

    Ready and eager to act.

    Tell him, I am prompt / To lay my Crowne at's feete, and there to kneele.

    1623, William Shakespeare, Antony & Cleopatra

    Note

    Readiness rather than speed is the point here. When Cleopatra tells Caesar's messenger in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (1623) 'I am prompt / To lay my Crowne at's feete,' she means 'I stand ready to.' The construction is prompt plus a to-infinitive. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • William Shakespeare wrote Antony and Cleopatra. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
    • Antony and Cleopatra was first published in 1623. folger.edu
    • The first-edition title page bears the publication year 1623. shakespearedocumented.folger.edu
    • Cleopatra speaks the quoted words to Caesar's messenger. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
    • Prompt in this quotation means ready or willing to act. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation uses prompt followed by a to-infinitive. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
13. 13
    noundatedcountable

    A time limit allowed for payment of an account for produce purchased, with the period varying for different goods.

    To cover any probable difference of price which might arise before the expiration of the prompt, which for this article [tea] is three months.

    1848, John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy: With Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy.

    Note

    Merchants' credit had its own clock: the prompt was the period before payment fell due, and its length changed with the commodity. John Stuart Mill, in Principles of Political Economy (1848), quotes Tooke giving three months for tea and speaking of 'the expiration of the prompt.' The term is dated and belongs to older trade writing. Each kind of goods had its own prompt. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • A prompt was the credit period allowed before payment became due, varying with the goods. en.wiktionary.org
    • John Stuart Mill wrote Principles of Political Economy, first published in 1848. oll.libertyfund.org
    • The passage gives a three-month prompt for tea and contains the exact words 'the expiration of the prompt.' econlib.org
    • Mill reproduces a quotation from Thomas Tooke; the tea example and quoted wording are Tooke's. econlib.org
14. 14
    adjective

    Closest or nearest in delivery date, as used in futures trading.