pretreat

verb

pre·​treat ˌprē-ˈtrēt 

variants or pre-treat

pretreated or pre-treated; pretreating or pre-treating

transitive verb

: to treat previously : to subject to pretreatment

pretreat the stain before washing

pretreated the roads with sand/salt before the snowstorm

pretreating wastewater

… he now pretreats patients with medicines to counter possible reactions.

—Elisabeth Rosenthal

Examples of pretreat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Tennessee Department of Transportation, which is in charge of interstates and state routes, reported using nearly 430,000 gallons of brine to pretreat roads on Tuesday. —Adam Tamburin, Axios, 18 Feb. 2025

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser announced in a statement that the city's snow team, which uses 136 snowplows and 10 dump trucks, will charge into action at midnight to pretreat roadways with snow-dissolving salt. —Marlene Lenthang, NBC News, 10 Feb. 2025

Removing Stains from Robes Before washing a bathrobe, check for stains and pretreat them prior to laundering. —Jolie Kerr, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Jan. 2025

Road crews continued to pretreat Thursday morning to try to get as much material down as possible ahead of the snow. —Thomas Saccente, arkansasonline.com, 9 Jan. 2025

Prepare the Garment for Washing Use a dab of wool wash to pretreat stains. —Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 7 Dec. 2024

For stubborn stains, pretreat them with the appropriate solution before tackling the more wipeable messes. —Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 25 Oct. 2024

To use dish soap to pretreat a lipstick stain, apply it directly onto the stain, making sure to cover it completely. —Jolie Kerr, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Oct. 2024

It can be used to pretreat washable fabrics before laundering, or in concert with an upholstery brush or carpet cleaning machine on non-washable items like furniture or mattresses. —Jolie Kerr, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1926, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pretreat

• amit
• athlete
• backseat
• blackfeet
• broadsheet
• browbeat
• buckwheat
• compete
• compleat
• complete
• conceit
• concrete

Kids Definition

pretreat

verb

pre·​treat

(ˈ)prē-ˈtrēt

: to treat (as soiled clothes) before laundering

pretreatment

-mənt

noun

Medical Definition

pretreat

transitive verb

pre·​treat -ˈtrēt 

: to subject to pretreatment