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# 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preventative/#m1)

2) A preventative is something used to prevent a problem, such as a medicine or treatment. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preventative/#m2)

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preventative/#x1)
- The vet gave the dog a preventative treatment for fleas. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preventative/#x2)
- Vaccines are preventative medicine. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preventative/#x3)
- We took preventative steps and tied down the trampoline before the storm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preventative/#x4)
- Sun cream is a preventative against sunburn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preventative/#x5)
- Regular check-ups are preventative care. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preventative/#x6)

### 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preventative/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.