Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Adapted or intended to afford protection.
  • noun Something that protects.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Affording protection; sheltering; defensive.
  • Adapted or intended to afford protection: as, a protective measure; affording protection to commodities of home production: as, a protective tariff; protective taxes.
  • noun That which protects; something adapted to afford protection.
  • noun In surgery, carbolized oiled silk applied over wounds for the exclusion of pathogenic bacteria.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Affording protection; sheltering; defensive.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) coloring which serves for the concealment and preservation of a living organism. Cf. Mimicry.
  • adjective (Polit. Econ.) a tariff designed to secure protection (see Protection, 4.), as distinguished from a tariff designed to raise revenue. See Tariff, and Protection, 4.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Serving, intended or wishing to protect.
  • noun UK Something that protects.
  • noun A condom.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective intended or adapted to afford protection of some kind
  • adjective (usually followed by `of') solicitously caring or mindful
  • adjective showing care

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The aim should be to aggressively create what he calls a "protective barrier" against loneliness.

    How Loneliness Can Infect Social Networks 2010

  • MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLIC., C.N LAW ENFORC.MENT ANALYST: That ` s exactly right, Nancy, because he was in what they call protective custody.

    CNN Transcript Jun 5, 2008 2008

  • If he goes life without parole, he will be in a level three or level four prison probably in a special needs yard, which is what they call protective custody.

    CNN Transcript Dec 13, 2004 2004

  • "It taps into what we identify as protective factors, especially in terms of intergenerational relationships, " he said.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com webmaster@huffingtonpost.com 2012

  • "It taps into what we identify as protective factors, especially in terms of intergenerational relationships, " he said.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com webmaster@huffingtonpost.com 2012

  • For Generation X members, "protective" is the key word to their parenting, largely because their families were less stable amid escalating divorce, says Nancy Robinson, a consumer strategist at consumer research company Iconoculture in Minneapolis.

    Round and round they go 2006

  • Firemen in protective suits clear up the residue of the toxic leak.

    Archive 2009-05-01 Dungeekin 2009

  • Firemen in protective clothing and breathing apparatus carried out a full search of the area, and the cause of the incident was determined to be Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who was giving a speech on Parliamentary reform in a nearby building.

    Archive 2009-05-01 Dungeekin 2009

  • Firemen in protective clothing and breathing apparatus carried out a full search of the area, and the cause of the incident was determined to be Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who was giving a speech on Parliamentary reform in a nearby building.

    Shopping Centre Hit by Fumes Scare Dungeekin 2009

  • Firemen in protective suits clear up the residue of the toxic leak.

    Shopping Centre Hit by Fumes Scare Dungeekin 2009

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