What does prevention mean?

The noun prevention describes actions and measures designed to stop something from happening, particularly in order to avoid a negative outcome or to reduce risk.

In the field of health care, “prevention” is sometimes used as a synonym for the term “preventive health care” when referring to policies, initiatives, and interventions aimed at reducing the risk of illness and disease.

Prevention in a sentence examples
The government’s new health policies focus on prevention by promoting access to vaccinations and preventive services.

Residents are calling for new prevention measures following the devastation of the floods.

On a related note, although you can use the adjectives preventive or preventative interchangeably to mean “intended to prevent,” many style guides recommend using “preventive” as it’s shorter and more commonly used, particularly in formal writing.

Have you tried QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker? You can use it to check if you’re using “prevention” correctly in your text.