prevent
to keep from occurring; avert; hinder: He intervened to prevent bloodshed.
to hinder or stop from doing something: There is nothing to prevent us from going.
Archaic. to act ahead of; forestall.
Archaic. to precede.
Archaic. to anticipate.
to interpose a hindrance: He will come if nothing prevents.
Origin of prevent
1synonym study For prevent
Other words for prevent
Opposites for prevent
Other words from prevent
- pre·vent·a·ble, pre·vent·i·ble, adjective
- pre·vent·a·bil·ty, noun
- pre·vent·ing·ly, adverb
- non·pre·vent·a·ble, adjective
- non·pre·vent·i·ble, adjective
- qua·si-pre·vent·ed, adjective
- un·pre·vent·a·ble, adjective
- un·pre·vent·ed, adjective
- un·pre·vent·i·ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use prevent in a sentence
They have basically suggested that the three deaths, while unfortunate, were also unpreventable.
HBO’s ‘Luck’ Runs Out as Show Is Canceled After Three Horses Die | Buzz Bissinger | March 19, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTCohn regards blindness as certainly preventable in 33%, as probably preventable in 43%, and as quite unpreventable in only 24%.
But an unpreventable catastrophe came before the winter was half over.
In Beaver World | Enos Abijah MillsLeaving out of consideration most exceptional, unpreventable bad luck, the worthy man who fails in life is to blame.
Certain Success | Norval A. HawkinsBut probably in most cases senile baldness is unpreventable.
There is also an unpreventable wear of parts that cannot be replaced without replacing the whole machine.
The Principles of Economics | Frank A. Fetter
British Dictionary definitions for prevent
/ (prɪˈvɛnt) /
(tr) to keep from happening, esp by taking precautionary action
(tr often foll by from) to keep (someone from doing something); hinder; impede
(intr) to interpose or act as a hindrance
(tr) archaic to anticipate or precede
Origin of prevent
1Derived forms of prevent
- preventable or preventible, adjective
- preventability or preventibility, noun
- preventably or preventibly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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