schedule

Less common meanings

4. 4
   drug class (US)nouncountable

   In law, any of the categories into which controlled drugs, medicines, or poisons are grouped, each with its own restrictions, as in the US or Australia.

   For decades, cannabis sat in the most restrictive schedule under federal law.

   Researchers petitioned the agency to move the compound to a less restrictive schedule.

   UsageUsed before nouns: a Schedule I drug (US), a Schedule 8 medicine (Australia).

   Similarcategory, class

   Note

   A legal class best known from American drug law, often capitalized and numbered when it names a particular class, as in Schedule I. It works attributively, so a drug is called a Schedule I drug. Writing in 2022, Shawn Radcliffe noted that cannabis then shared that class with heroin, LSD and ecstasy, though state-licensed medical cannabis moved to Schedule III in 2026. Schedule I is defined as having no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • In 2022, Shawn Radcliffe wrote that cannabis shared Schedule I status with heroin, LSD and ecstasy. en.wiktionary.org
   • State-licensed medical cannabis moved to Schedule III in 2026. govinfo.gov
   • Schedule I is defined by no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. dea.gov
5. 5
   restrict a drugverbtransitive

   To classify a drug or other substance as a controlled substance under law.

   Congress moved quickly to schedule the synthetic opioid after a wave of overdoses.

   The agency scheduled several novel stimulants on an emergency basis last spring.

   Similarclassify, list, control, regulate

   Oppositedeschedule, deregulate

   Note

   Drug law has made a verb of the drug-class noun: to schedule a substance is to place it in one of the legal classes, of which American law has five. Jan Hoffman's 2023 reporting on xylazine shows the gerund at work, with scheduling a drug debated as a measure in itself. Because a scheduled drug can also sound like a planned one, the surrounding words carry the meaning. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Scheduling a substance places it in a legal controlled-substance category. dea.gov
   • United States federal law establishes five controlled-substance schedules. govinfo.gov
   • Jan Hoffman published reporting about xylazine in 2023. en.wiktionary.org
   • Hoffman's reporting uses 'scheduling' when discussing debate about controlling xylazine. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   nounobsolete

   A slip of paper on which a short note or memorandum has been written.

   He demands the blood-written schedule back from the demon, who refuses to give it up

   1900, John the Stylite, Select Narratives of Holy Women (Studia Sinaitica; X)

   Note

   The sense closest to the word's origin comes from Middle English cedule, through French, from Late Latin schedula, "a little strip of papyrus." Agnes Smith Lewis's 1900 edition of Select Narratives of Holy Women still uses it for a blood-written schedule held by a demon. Read it this way in older texts. In modern writing, say note or slip instead. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • The slip-of-paper or short-note sense is an early sense closest to the word’s origin. en.wiktionary.org
   • Schedule comes from Middle English cedule through French from Late Latin schedula. en.wiktionary.org
   • Schedula means a little strip of papyrus. en.wiktionary.org
   • Agnes Smith Lewis edited and translated Select Narratives of Holy Women, published in 1900. archive.org
   • The edition uses schedule for a document written in blood and held by a demon. archive.org
7. 7
   verbUKtransitivebritish

   To put a building, monument, or site on an official list, especially one that legally protects it because of its historical importance.

   Archaeologists are urging officials to schedule the Iron Age hillfort before the quarry expands.

   Because the burial mound has been scheduled, any digging on the site needs special consent.

   Similarlist

   Note

   Heritage protection in Britain uses the verb this way: what matters is the list, not a date. It sits naturally in the passive and as a participle before a noun (the mound has been scheduled; a scheduled site), which is where it can mislead, since elsewhere a scheduled site sounds booked for later, as in the "plan for a date" meaning. A monument or ruin nearby usually settles which is meant. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Britain protects heritage monuments by including them in an official Schedule. gov.uk
8. 8
   verbAustralia

   To commit someone to a hospital against their will, using the powers set out in a schedule of the relevant mental health law.