preventive
[pri-ven-tiv]
- Medicine/Medical. of or noting a drug, vaccine, etc., for preventing disease; prophylactic.
- serving to prevent or hinder: preventive measures.
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- Medicine/Medical. a drug or other substance for preventing disease.
- a preventive agent or measure.
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Also pre·vent·a·tive [pri-ven-tuh-tiv] /prɪˈvɛn tə tɪv/ (for defs 2, 4).
Origin of preventive
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for preventive
Contemporary Examples
Migraine drugs fall into two categories: preventive and abortive.
Now, preventive protocols—like mammograms, colonoscopies, and Prostate-Specific Antigen tests—are being questioned.
Our current preventive routine focuses on treating such cardiac risk factors as hypertension and cholesterol.
Already, the law has provided 54 million Americans free access to preventive services like check-ups and mammograms.
By that he means solitary confinement is intended to be preventive, not punitive.
Historical Examples
I regret to say that I have no specific to give as a preventive for sea-sickness.
Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of ScotlandDaniel Turner Holmes
But the preventive power was what they preferred to exercise.
Policing the PlainsR.G. MacBeth
I understand some fool urged her to try this as a preventive of mal-de-mer.
Similarly, by preventive measures, we are controlling the other diseases.
A Handbook of HealthWoods Hutchinson
Unexpected as it may seem, vaccination is not only a preventive of smallpox, but a cure for it.
A Handbook of HealthWoods Hutchinson
preventive
- tending or intended to prevent or hinder
- med
- tending to prevent disease; prophylactic
- of or relating to the branch of medicine concerned with prolonging life and preventing disease
- (in Britain) of, relating to, or belonging to the customs and excise service or the coastguard
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- something that serves to prevent or hinder
- med any drug or agent that tends to prevent or protect against disease
- another name for contraceptive
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Also (except for sense 3): preventative (prɪˈvɛntətɪv)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for preventive
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
preventive
(prĭ-vĕn′tĭv)- Preventing or slowing the course of an illness or disease; prophylactic.
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- A preventive agent or treatment.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.