preclinical
adjective
pre·clin·i·cal
(ˌ)prē-ˈkli-ni-kəl 
1
: of, relating to, or concerned with the period preceding clinical manifestations
2
: of, relating to, or being the period in medical or dental education preceding the clinical study of medicine or dentistry
3
: occurring prior to clinical testing
a preclinical animal study of a new therapy
Examples of preclinical in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Sinclair laid the foundation for his work using mice in preclinical trials, Life Biosciences then licensed the technology from Harvard and Sinclair’s lab to test on non-human primates to better match the human eye’s anatomy.
—
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 30 Jan. 2026
After preclinical trials, there’s a human trial that’s smaller than the ones required for drugs, followed by a feasibility trial to confirm the device works as intended.
—Ana Castelain, Bloomberg, 28 Jan. 2026
The research team published its findings in Nature Communications and plans further preclinical testing.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 25 Jan. 2026
But multiple studies have now confirmed that rheumatoid arthritis has a preclinical stage of development.
—Kevin Deane, The Conversation, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for preclinical
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Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 30 Jan. 2026
After preclinical trials, there’s a human trial that’s smaller than the ones required for drugs, followed by a feasibility trial to confirm the device works as intended.
—Ana Castelain, Bloomberg, 28 Jan. 2026
The research team published its findings in Nature Communications and plans further preclinical testing.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 25 Jan. 2026
But multiple studies have now confirmed that rheumatoid arthritis has a preclinical stage of development.
—Kevin Deane, The Conversation, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for preclinical
Cite this Entry
“Preclinical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preclinical. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
preclinical
adjective
pre·clin·i·cal
(ˈ)prē-ˈklin-i-kəl
1
a
: of, relating to, concerned with, or being the period preceding clinical manifestations
the preclinical stage of diabetes mellitus
b
: occurring prior to a clinical trial
preclinical animal testing to assess a drug's safety
2
: of, relating to, or being the period in medical or dental education preceding the clinical study of medicine or dentistry
the preclinical years
specifically
: of or relating to the early period of prescribed medical or dental study devoted to the basic sciences (as anatomy, physiology, and pathology)
preclinical studies
3
: of, relating to, or being a science basic to medicine
research in the preclinical sciences
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