Pro*tect"ive (?), a. [Cf. F. protectif.] Affording protection; sheltering; defensive. " The favor of a protective Providence."
Feltham.
Protective coloring Zool., coloring which serves for the concealment and preservation of a living organism. Cf. Mimicry. Wallace. -- Protective tariff 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.
© Webster 1913. | 
