antiviral

adjective

an·ti·vi·ral | \ˌan-tē-ˈvī-rəl,

ˌan-tī-\

Definition of antiviral

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 medical : acting, effective, or directed against viruses an antiviral vaccine/drug

2 : used to protect a computer from viruses : antivirus antiviral software

antiviral

noun

Definition of antiviral (Entry 2 of 2)

: an antiviral agent and especially a drug antivirals used in treating influenza

Examples of antiviral in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Development of antiviral medicines to treat patients is still in early stages, too. — Emily Baumgaertner, New York Times, "High-Resolution Snapshot of Zika Virus Reveals Clues to Fighting It," 26 June 2018 Four experimental treatments for Ebola were sent to the region: ZMapp, which was tried in West Africa; GS-5734, an antiviral drug; and two monoclonal antibodies, REGN-EB3 and Ma b114. — New York Times, "Ebola Outbreak in Central Africa Is ‘Largely Contained’," 28 June 2018 Influenza viruses developed resistance long ago to the first two antiviral flu drugs, amantadine and rimantadine. — NBC News, "New, fast-acting flu drug gets priority FDA review," 26 June 2018 The National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the new research, is working to back another study to test the effects of antiviral drugs on people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s with high levels of herpes virus in their brains. — Fiza Pirani, ajc, "Herpes virus may be linked to Alzheimer’s, study suggests," 22 June 2018 But in people treated with antiviral drugs, that risk was reduced by 90 percent. — Sharon Begley, STAT, "New study supports long-dismissed idea: Herpes viruses could play role in Alzheimer’s," 21 June 2018 Also among the experimental treatments that have shown some promise is favipiravir, a broad-spectrum antiviral drug, one that is intended to treat a range of viruses. — Susan Scutti, CNN, "Ebola 101: Answers to your questions about causes, symptoms, transmission and treatments," 25 May 2018 There is currently no antiviral drug for Ebola licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration. — Elise Takahama, BostonGlobe.com, "MIT chemists hope manmade ‘xenoproteins’ can help battle diseases like Ebola," 21 May 2018 There’s no specific antiviral medication designed to treat hepatitis A, Richard Watkins, M.D., an infectious disease specialist in Akron, Ohio, and an associate professor at Northeast Ohio Medical University, tells SELF. — Korin Miller, SELF, "A Woman Died From Hepatitis A After Eating Frozen Pomegranate Seeds That Were Linked to a Recall," 8 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The company, which is not abandoning research into tropical diseases such as malaria, is looking to license its early-stage products and stressed that its Sandoz generics unit continues to manufacture and sell antibiotics and antivirals. — Ed Silverman, STAT, "Pharmalittle: Most drug price hikes occurred before Azar arrived; Novartis abandons antibiotics," 12 July 2018 There are antibiotics, including the powerful medication Ciprofloxacin, vaccines for smallpox and anthrax and antivirals for a deadly influenza pandemic. — James Hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Mick Mulvaney’s confession highlights the corrosive influence of money in politics," 25 Apr. 2018 But the development of more effective antivirals for people who have already been infected is a key element of fighting influenza, too. — Sy Mukherjee, Fortune, "Brainstorm Health: 24 Hour Flu Killer, Scott Walker and Obamacare, Drug Regulation Under Trump," 23 Feb. 2018 Researchers are going to be taking data on this deployment of rVSV-Zebov, as well as looking at other even more experimental therapies—the antibody drug ZMapp and the antivirals favipiravir and GS-5734. — Adam Rogers, WIRED, "The Wild Logistical Ride of the Ebola Vaccine's High-Tech Thermos," 29 May 2018 Inside, there are antibiotics, vaccines for smallpox and anthrax, and antivirals for a deadly flu pandemic. — Washington Post, "The Health 202: Forget the VA. It's not clear Ronny Jackson can do his current job.," 25 Apr. 2018 So Xofluza and other RNA polymerase inhibitors represent a new approach to flu antivirals. — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "UCSD discovery points way to possible universal flu drug," 20 Mar. 2018 New drugs called direct-acting antivirals can cure the disease with fewer side effects than previous treatments. — Katheleen Conti, BostonGlobe.com, "Prisoners, Mass. reach settlement agreement for treatment of hepatitis C," 10 Mar. 2018 Jimerson said that her husband wasn't given direct-acting antivirals. — Alex Smith, Washington Post, "States Face Costly Conundrum: How To Treat Inmates With Hepatitis C," 23 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'antiviral.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.