- 1(medical) a medicine or medical treatment that reduces pain without curing its cause Aromatherapy can be used as a palliative.
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- 2(formal) (usually disapproving) an action, a decision, etc. that is designed to make a difficult situation seem better without actually solving the cause of the problems Grants by themselves provide little more than a temporary palliative to ailing industries.
palliative treatment short-term palliative measuresSee palliative in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
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