Meaning & use
prevention
Last updated
UK/prɪˈven.ʃən/
US/prɪˈven.ʃən/
Meaning
noununcountable
Action taken so that something bad does not happen.
Grammar: No plural; often followed by of: prevention of disease.
Patterns
- prevention of something
- prevention is better than cure
Regular handwashing is key to disease prevention.
The campaign focuses on accident prevention.
Prevention is cheaper than treatment.
Common combinations
- crime prevention
- The council funds crime prevention.
- disease prevention
- Vaccines are part of disease prevention.
- fire prevention
- Fire prevention week teaches safety.
- prevention of
- The prevention of injury is vital.
Synonyms and how they differ
- avoidance
- Staying away from something rather than stopping it.
- protection
- Defending something, not only stopping something happening.
- deterrence
- Discouraging by threat.
Opposites
Word family
- prevent verb
- to stop something
- preventive adjective
- intended to stop something
- preventable adjective
- able to be stopped
Commonly confused: prevention or prevension?
prevention vs prevension
Not a word; the noun is prevention.
Practice
Doctors say that ___ of heart disease starts with diet and exercise.
Choose one answer.
Prevention is the noun needed after the subject position, followed by of. Preventive is an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prevention”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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