prohibition

[ proh-uh-bish-uhn ]

noun

1. the act of prohibiting.
2. the legal prohibiting of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic drinks for common consumption.
3. Often Prohibition. the period (1920–33) when the Eighteenth Amendment was in force and alcoholic beverages could not legally be manufactured, transported, or sold in the United States.
4. a law or decree that forbids.

   Synonyms: interdiction

Prohibition

¹

/ ˌprəʊɪˈbɪʃən /

noun

1. the period (1920–33) when the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors was banned by constitutional amendment in the US

prohibition

²

/ ˌprəʊɪˈbɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of prohibiting or state of being prohibited
2. an order or decree that prohibits
3. sometimes capital (esp in the US) a policy of legally forbidding the manufacture, transportation, sale, or consumption of alcoholic beverages except for medicinal or scientific purposes
4. law an order of a superior court (in Britain the High Court) forbidding an inferior court to determine a matter outside its jurisdiction

Prohibition

1. The outlawing of alcoholic beverages nationwide from 1920 to 1933, under an amendment to the Constitution . The amendment, enforced by the Volstead Act, was repealed by another amendment to the Constitution in 1933.

Notes

Prohibition is often mentioned in discussions of how much social change can be brought about through law, because alcohol was widely, though illegally, produced and sold during Prohibition; it was served privately in the White House under President Warren Harding , for example.

Many use the example of Prohibition to argue that more harm than good comes from the enactment of laws that are sure to be widely disobeyed.

Some states and localities (called “dry”) had outlawed the production and sale of alcohol before the Prohibition amendment was adopted. The repealing amendment allowed individual states and localities to remain “dry,” and some did for many years.

Derived Forms

• ˌProhiˈbitionist, noun
• ˌprohiˈbitionary, adjective

Other Words From

• prohi·bition·ary adjective
• anti·prohi·bition adjective noun
• nonpro·hi·bition noun
• prepro·hi·bition noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of prohibition¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Latin prohibitiōn-, stem of prohibitiō “prevention”; equivalent to prohibit + -ion

Example Sentences

A 1974 law made impoundment illegal, but Trump has suggested that he will ignore the prohibition and challenge it in court.

From Los Angeles Times

“One thing we actually know very well is that criminalization and prohibition of drugs drives people to use drugs in less safe ways and can actually increase risks of harms like overdose and death,” Marino told Salon in an email.

From Salon

If the court is going to weigh in separately on the statute’s constitutionality, then the question of whether an 1849 zombie law is a feticide statute or an abortion prohibition may seem like a meaningless technicality, but the opposite is true.

From Slate

That prohibition did not explicitly cover online sales, but the city of San Diego is one of a number of local governments that adopted laws to eliminate any potential loophole.

From Los Angeles Times

In Missouri, Planned Parenthood has invoked the ballot measure to challenge not only the state’s sweeping ban but also laws mandating a 72-hour waiting period, a prohibition on telehealth procedures, and a requirement that clinicians have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

From Slate

Related Words

• constraint
• embargo
• exclusion
• injunction
• prevention
• proscription
• restriction
• taboo
• veto