pre·ven·ta·tive
pri-ˈven-tə-tiv 
: devoted to or concerned with preventing something from happening : preventive entry 1
The best preventative medicine that you can give to your plants is to mulch them.—
Ann Whynman
Ann WhynmanLos Angeles County promised to revamp its system, gradually reducing the use of expensive inpatient hospitals through more preventative care at outpatient clinics.—Jonathan Cohn
Jonathan Cohn
plural preventatives
: something that serves to prevent something from occurring : preventive entry 2
We've got the live vaccinia virus vaccine as a preventative for smallpox …—D. A. Henderson et al.
D. A. Henderson et al.Green onions are a mosquito preventative.—Garrison Keillor
Garrison KeillorSynonyms
Examples of preventative in a Sentence
Adjective
the department in charge of taking preventative measures against international terrorism
Recent Examples on the Web
Hanna Park, Robert Shackelford and Mary Gilbert, CNN, 11 Dec. 2024
There are many ways to try and attain the two aspirational preventative solutions.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
Jeremy Coller, Forbes, 6 Sep. 2024
For years, the United States has been developing preventatives and treatments for Ebola, which would both provide defense if Ebola were used in warfare and reduce the spread of an outbreak of the disease.
—Jessica Hatcher, Foreign Affairs, 28 Apr. 2014
See all Example Sentences for preventative 
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Adjective
Power outages: Nearly 60,000 customers across California experienced power outages, primarily concentrated in San Diego County, where utilities implemented preventative shutdowns.
—Hanna Park, Robert Shackelford and Mary Gilbert, CNN, 11 Dec. 2024
There are many ways to try and attain the two aspirational preventative solutions.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
Noun
The solution isn’t a complete ban on the use of drugs in agriculture, but reducing infection through proper animal husbandry and, as is the case with humans, reserving antibiotics for the treatment of sick animals rather than deploying them widely as a preventative.
—Jeremy Coller, Forbes, 6 Sep. 2024
For years, the United States has been developing preventatives and treatments for Ebola, which would both provide defense if Ebola were used in warfare and reduce the spread of an outbreak of the disease.
—Jessica Hatcher, Foreign Affairs, 28 Apr. 2014
See all Example Sentences for preventative
Dictionary Entries Near preventative
Cite this Entry
“Preventative.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preventative. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
preventative
adjective or noun
pre·ven·ta·tive
pri-ˈvent-ət-iv
Medical Definition
preventative
adjective or noun
pre·ven·ta·tive
pri-ˈvent-ət-iv
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