preventive

adjective

pre·ven·tive | \ pri-ˈven-tiv

Definition of preventive

(Entry 1 of 2)

: devoted to or concerned with prevention : precautionary preventive steps against soil erosion : such as

a : designed or serving to prevent the occurrence of disease preventive medical care

b : undertaken to forestall anticipated hostile action a preventive coup

preventive

noun

Definition of preventive (Entry 2 of 2)

: something that prevents especially : something used to prevent disease

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Examples of preventive in a Sentence

Adjective

Farmers are covering their crops as a preventive measure against frost. We'll take whatever preventive action is necessary.

Noun

if people took the simple preventive of frequently washing their hands, the spread of germs could be greatly reduced

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Sometimes, a stroke can be treated with blood clot-busting and blood thinning medications as well as emergency medical procedures, followed by rehabilitation and implementing preventive strategies for the future. — Sarah Jacoby, SELF, "Luke Perry Dies at 52 After 'Massive' Stroke," 4 Mar. 2019 The program works with the city’s hospitals for primary and preventive care. — Katie Honan, WSJ, "Mayor de Blasio Drafts City Workers to Push Health Care Programs," 22 Jan. 2019 Buchholz outlines a three-step method for reducing migraines: 1) Stop reaching for preventive medicine, 2) reduce triggers through dietary restrictions and other methods, and 3) if needed, increase your migraine threshold — a.k.a. — Vox Staff, Vox, "The most thought-provoking books the Vox staff read in 2018," 21 Dec. 2018 Research in recent years has raised hopes for a preventive treatment. — Peter Loftus, WSJ, "Experimental Drug Shows Promise Protecting Against Peanut Allergies," 18 Nov. 2018 America is never a nation to roll over and die, so physicians and scientists got to work researching causes and preventive measures. — Jamie Lauren Keiles, Vox, "How low-fat dairy came to rule the US — and why that’s changing.," 20 Dec. 2018 Once experts predict a potential outbreak, who funds the necessary preventive and containment measures? — Mallory Locklear, Discover Magazine, "With Big Data and Predictive Analytics, Scientists Are Getting Smarter About Outbreaks," 8 Nov. 2018 While researching the idea, the team found preventive materials on teen pregnancy, but little support for already pregnant students. — Mohammed Kloub, The Seattle Times, "The most interesting education solutions from Seattle’s Startup Weekend EDU 2018," 9 Oct. 2018 Williams added that the department conducts preventive baiting, and began a pilot program to place dry ice into rodent burrows in parks or other green spaces to suffocate rats. — Travis Fedschun, Fox News, "Chicago named 'rat capital' of the country amid rodent complaint spike," 22 July 2018

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