Hypertext Webster Gateway: "preventive"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Preventive \Pre*vent"ive\, n.
That which prevents, hinders, or obstructs; that which
intercepts access; in medicine, something to prevent disease;
a prophylactic.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Preventive \Pre*vent"ive\, a. [Cf. F. pr['e]ventif.]
1. Going before; preceding. [Obs.]
Any previous counsel or preventive understanding.
--Cudworth.
2. Tending to defeat or hinder; obviating; preventing the
access of; as, a medicine preventive of disease.
Physic is either curative or preventive. --Sir T.
Browne.
{Preventive service}, the duty performed by the armed police
in guarding the coast against smuggling. [Eng]
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
preventive
adj 1: preventing or contributing to the prevention of disease;
"preventive medicine"; "vaccines are prophylactic"; "a
prophylactic drug" [syn: {preventative}, {prophylactic}]
2: tending to prevent or hinder [syn: {preventative}] [ant: {permissive}]
3: tending to ward off; "the swastika...a very ancient
prophylactic symbol occurring among all peoples"- Victor
Schultze [syn: {cautionary}, {prophylactic}]
n 1: remedy that prevents or slows the course of an illness or
disease; "the doctor recommended several preventatives"
[syn: {preventative}, {prophylactic}]
2: any obstruction that impedes or is burdensome [syn: {hindrance},
{hitch}, {preventative}, {encumbrance}, {incumbrance}, {interference}]
3: an agent or device intended to prevent conception [syn: {contraceptive},
{preventative}, {contraceptive device}, {prophylactic
device}, {birth control device}]
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