deter
Americanverb (used with object)
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to discourage or restrain from acting or proceeding.
The large dog deterred trespassers.
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to prevent; check; arrest.
timber treated with creosote to deter rot.
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to repel.
Strongly scented marigolds planted among the melons are supposed to deter beetles.
verb
Other Word Forms
- determent noun
- deterrability noun
- deterrable adjective
- deterrer noun
- undeterrability noun
- undeterrable adjective
- undeterrably adverb
- undeterring adjective
Etymology
Origin of deter
First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin dēterrēre “to discourage, put off, frighten,” equivalent to dē-, prefix and preposition + terrēre “to frighten, scare”; de-
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Around the world, more countries are ramping up arms production and boosting investments in national security, if only to deter rivals.
That high-risk, escalatory strategy is aimed at deterring future attacks on a regime that feels its survival is in acute danger.
February’s CPI inflation was 2.4%, lower than expected, but rising energy costs may still deter Federal Reserve rate cuts.
From Barron's
They also could be laid to deter the U.S. from a ground invasion, said Anas Alhajji, managing partner at Energy Outlook Advisors.
Chief Justice John Roberts stressed in the Jarkesy majority opinion that government penalties “designed to punish or deter the wrongdoer” are a “prototypical common law remedy.”
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
