preventative

«preventative» in Mova's school dictionary: meant to stop something bad from happening before it… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adjective; noun (a preventative, preventatives) – also «preventive»

meaning for a pupil

1) Preventative means meant to stop something bad from happening before it starts, such as illness, damage or crime. tree →

2) A preventative is something used to prevent a problem, such as a medicine or treatment. tree →

sense in the lessons

In health and science lessons, «preventative medicine» includes vaccines, healthy eating and brushing teeth. In safety and money lessons, preventative steps (like checking a bike) save trouble later. Phrases: «preventative measures», «preventative medicine», «preventative care», «as a preventative».

examples

• Brushing your teeth is a preventative measure against tooth decay. tree →
• The vet gave the dog a preventative treatment for fleas. tree →
• Vaccines are preventative medicine. tree →
• We took preventative steps and tied down the trampoline before the storm. tree →
• Sun cream is a preventative against sunburn. tree →
• Regular check-ups are preventative care. tree →

note

«Preventative» and «preventive» mean the same; «preventive» is more common in American English and in science writing. Related: prevent, prevention. Saying "prevention is better than cure" means stopping problems early is better than fixing them later.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «preventative» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.