Part 524

2. Anticipation; esp., anticipation of needs or wishes; hence, precaution; forethought. [Obs.] Hammond. Shak.

3. The act of preventing or hindering; obstruction of action, access, or approach; thwarting. South.

Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention.

Shak.

4. Prejudice; prepossession. [A Gallicism] Dryden.

Pre*ven"tion*al (?), a. Tending to prevent. [Obs.]

Pre*vent"ive (?), a. [Cf. F. prÈventif.] 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.

Pre*vent"ive, n. That which prevents, hinders, or obstructs; that which intercepts access; in medicine, something to prevent disease; a prophylactic.

Pre*vent"ive*ly, adv. In a preventive manner.

Pre*ver"te*bral (?), a. (Anat.) Situated immediately in front, or on the ventral side, of the vertebral column; prespinal.

Pre"vi*ous (?), a. [L. praevius going before, leading the way; prae before + via the way. See Voyage.] Going before in time; being or happening before something else; antecedent; prior; as, previous arrangements; a previous illness.

The dull sound . . . previous to the storm, Rolls o'er the muttering earth.

Thomson.

Previous question. (Parliamentary Practice) See under Question, and compare Closure. -- Previous to, before; -- often used adverbially for previously. "Previous to publication." M. Arnold. "A policy . . . his friends had advised previous to 1710." J. H. Newman.

Syn. -- Antecedent; preceding; anterior; prior; foregoing; former.

Pre"vi*ous*ly, adv. Beforehand; antecedently; as, a plan previously formed.

Pre"vi*ous*ness, n. The quality or state of being previous; priority or antecedence in time.

Pre*vise" (?), v. t. [L. praevisus, p. p. of praevidere to foresee; prae before + videre to see. See Vision.] 1. To foresee. [R.]

2. To inform beforehand; to warn. Ld. Lytton.

Pre*vi"sion (?), n. [Cf. F. prÈvision.] Foresight; foreknowledge; prescience. H. Spencer.

Pre*voy"ant (?), a. [F. prÈvoyant.] Foreseeing; prescient. [R.] Mrs. Oliphant.

Pre*warn" (?), v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Prewarned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Prewarning.] To warn beforehand; to forewarn. [R.]