interceptive

English

Etymology

intercept +‎ -ive

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛptɪv

Adjective

interceptive (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to the coordination, joining, and interaction or interference of a moving object with another (moving or stationary) object.
   • 1976, Derek John Anderson, Declan John Anderson, Bruce Matthews, Mastication: Proceedings of a Symposium on the Clinical and Physiological Aspects of Mastication Held at the Medical School, University of Bristol on 14-16 April 1975, page 244:

     If there is an abnormal interceptive contact the transducer is jolted more than once in a single closure of the jaws and a double sound is produced (Fig. 29.4).

   • 2003, P.J. Beck, J.C. Dessing, C.E. Peper, D. Bullock, “Modelling the control of interceptive actions”, in Philosophical Transactions: Biological sciences, page 1512:

     Even if fast interceptive actions are continuously influenced by visual information, then surely slower interceptive actions like catching are.

   • 2004, Simon Bennett, Keith Davids, Geert J.P. Savelsbergh, Interceptive Actions in Sport: Information and Movement:

     Interceptive actions are common in everyday life and are instrumental in helping humans to adapt to their complex and uncertain environments. The range of interceptive actions includes both fine and gross motor responses, performed under a variety of conditions in static and dynamic environments, embracing discrete and continuous tasks. They include mundane taks like picking up a cup, placing a foot on a kerb when crossing the road, sitting down gently on a chair, or shaking hands with a friend.

   • 2004, Michael Plum, “Interceptive Beam Diagnostics— Signal Creation and Materials Interactions”, in Thomas Shea, R. Coles Sibley III, editors, Beam Instrumentation Workshop 2004, page 24:

     Usually when an interceptive monitor is chosen over a non-interceptive monitor it is because the signal levels are too low to be practical for the non-interceptive monitors.

   • 2019, Alain Boyadjian, “Timing in Relay Running”, in Benoit G. Bardy, Reinoud J. Bootsma, Yves Guiard, editors, Studies in Perception and Action III:

     If interceptive tasks consist of being at the right place at the right time, the originality of the athletic relay task is to be found in the fact that receivers have to defer the time-to-encounter.

2. Pertaining to the interruption of a trajectory or course of development to stop it or divert it to a new trajectory or course of development, as opposed to correction after the fact.

   interceptive orthodontics

   • 2002, Anders Hugoson, Margit Falk, Sylvia Johansson, Consensus Conference on Caries in the Primary Dentition and Its Clinical Management, 14-15 November 2001, page 48:

     Identification and treatment of the disease in its early stages by the use of non-surgical techniques (interceptive caries treatment) therefore seem reasonable.

   • 2009, V. Squire, The Exclusionary Politics of Asylum, page 99:

     The preventative extension of interceptive migration controls is by no means particular to the UK or EU context, and has been developed most notoriously by states such as Australia and Canada ( Hyndman and Mountz , 2008 ; Kernerman, 2008; McMaster 2991).

   • 2011, Thomas Rakosi, Thomas M. Graber, Orthodontic and Dentofacial Orthopedic Treatment, page 18:

     Early treatment, preventive (interceptive) orthodontics, and treatment timing are much-debated and still somewhat controversial subjects (Tulloch et al. 1997).

   • 2013, Mo Jie Sun, Ying Jie Zhang, “Plant Quarantine between Thailand and China”, in Yinghui Cheng, Dequn Zhou, Guiming Zhang, Ying Wang, Ying Wang, editors, Renewable Energy and Environmental Technology, page 63:

     Fruits, vegetables and seedlings were the main hosts, the amounts of interceptive times were respectively 6017, 1716, 994. And 34 species were intercepted from fruits, accounting for 43% of total species, 17 species from seedlings (21.5%), 12 species from vegetables (15.2%).

3. (more specifically) Pertaining to the prevention of pregnancy by interfering with the implantation of the embryo in the uterus.
   • 1978, M. Oettel, J. Draffehn, M. Koch, A. Kurischoko, Elke Ohme, J. Strecke, Irmgard Tiroke, “Relationship between Uterotrophic and Interceptive Activities of Steroidal Estrogents”, in Endokrinologie, volume 72, page 33:

     Our calculations on the relationship between uterotrophic and interceptive activities support the concept that interruption of early pregnancy is one of the properties of an "estrogenic" compound (Carlborg, 1970).

   • 2004, Reviews on Indian Medicinal Plants, page 90:

     The crude petroleum ether, chloroform and alcoholic extracts of the root administered orally at the single dose of 100 mg/kg bw given at the post implantation period showed 100 per cent interceptive activty in mature female mice.

   • 2013, George deStevens, Ernst Jucker, V. Zingel, Progress in Drug Research, page 166:

     Since the pregnancy interceptive agents or the menses regulators may also influence the development of either trophoblasts or the maternal cells (epithelial and stromal) at the embryo attachment site, another in vitro assay method using using trophoblast cells of hamster and mouse isolated from a preplacental organelle, the ectoplacental cone, has been developed.

4. Pertaining to the approach and destruction of an attacking enemy force.
   • 1981, Michael I. Handel, The Diplomacy of Surprise, Hitler, Nixon, Sadat, page 65:

     As soon as the Germans took the initial action, the French could have launched an interceptive strike.

   • 1989, Daily Report: China - Issues 80-89, page 68:

     This means that the United States will put into space an anti-missile system comprising a large number of small, highly intelligent interceptive rockets, rather than build a large scale multi-layer defensive shield in space as originally planned.

   • 2011, Yoram Dinstein, War, Aggression and Self-Defence, page 204:

     On the other hand, had the Americans sought to destroy the Japanese fleet before it sailed – while it was still training for its mission, war-gaming or otherwise making advance preparations – this would have been not an interceptive (hence, lawful) response to an armed attack but an (unlawful) preventive use of force in advance of the attack which had not yet commenced.

Noun

interceptive (plural interceptives)

1. A drug or device that prevents pregnancy by interfering with the implantation of an embryo in the uterus.
   • 1980, Elsayed Saad Eldin Hafez, Human Reproduction: Conception and Contraception, page 747:

     Interceptives are neither contraceptives nor abortifacients since they are unable to inhibit fertilization or to interfere with an established implantation in primates ( Morris & Van Wagenen, 1973).

   • 1988, William M. Green, Rape, page 136:

     Notelovitz and Bard also used 30mg of conjugated estrogen daily for five days in 359 women who requested an interceptive.

   • 1995, Autumn Stanley, Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for a Revised History of Technology, page 267:

     Norman Farnsworth, Audrey S. Bingel, and others, in a two-part 1975 review of more than a thousand botanical and pharmacological references, list 225 plant species as " folkloric " contraceptives and/or interceptives.