Definition of "preparative" [pre•par•a•tive]

• Serving or tending to prepare or make ready; preliminary. (adjective)
• Something that prepares for or acts as a preliminary to something following. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The first Nobel Prize for Chemistry recognizing pioneering work in preparative organic chemistry was that to Victor Grignard from"
• "They have, however, also been very useful in preparative chemistry and two Nobel Prizes have been awarded for such applications: 1912 to Grignard and 1963 to Ziegler and Natta."
• "They're asking a psychologist should do so-called preparative or conversion therapy on gay patients?"