forestall
Americanverb (used with object)
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to prevent, hinder, or thwart by action in advance.
to forestall a riot by deploying police.
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to act beforehand with or get ahead of; anticipate.
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to buy up (goods) in advance in order to increase the price when resold.
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to prevent sales at (a fair, market, etc.) by buying up or diverting goods.
verb
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to delay, stop, or guard against beforehand
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to anticipate
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to prevent or hinder sales at (a market, etc) by buying up merchandise in advance, etc
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to buy up (merchandise) for profitable resale Compare corner
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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forestallsimple
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forestallssimple
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have forestalledperfect
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has forestalledperfect
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am forestallingprogressive
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are forestallingprogressive
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is forestallingprogressive
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have been forestallingperfect progressive
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has been forestallingperfect progressive
Past
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forestalledsimple
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had forestalledperfect
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was forestallingprogressive
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were forestallingprogressive
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had been forestallingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of forestall
1350–1400; Middle English forstallen, verbal derivative of forstalle, Old English foresteall intervention (to defeat justice), waylaying. See fore-, stall 2
Explanation
It takes a bit of planning to forestall something, meaning stop it from happening. To forestall the effects of aging, exercise and take care of your health all your life. You can break the word forestall into parts to figure out its meaning. The prefix fore is one you've seen in words like forewarn, which means "to warn in advance." And you probably know that stall means "delay." So to forestall is to stall in advance, or put another way, to try to prevent or put off something you don't want to happen.
Vocabulary lists containing forestall
"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
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The Pearl
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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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.
See Examples For:
Nevertheless, some of them come together to try to forestall the installation of the solar array.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
If one spouse gets sick, the other spouse can care for them with the help of the close family, and hopefully forestall any inpatient nursing needs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
But there are signs of life emerging that could help forestall another historic low point.
From Barron's ● May 25, 2026
Yet he assures us that he and his colleagues in Congress can forestall the inexorable march of technology to protect us from this fate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
He paused triumphantly—he was beginning to enjoy his role—and answered his own question to forestall the obvious answer on Powell’s tongue.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
The agreement comes after talks began several weeks ago, and forestalls a May 31 deadline for workers to strike.
From Reuters ● May 11, 2022
By pretending that his stock sales were mandated by his Twitter voters, Musk forestalls any speculation that they reflect his doubts about Tesla’s future or about its stratospheric stock market valuation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2021
Yet many physicians have the mistaken belief that a longer course of antibiotics forestalls resistant strains.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 27, 2021
If you feel like you must have an excuse that forestalls follow-up questions, you can always say the pregnancy has been hard on you and you’re just not up for a party.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2019
"There is nothing to tell you, save that I have made up my mind to it," he said, looking at her with that prompt defiance which forestalls remark.
From A Country Gentleman and his Family by Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)
And a judge last week ordered the town to release video of the incident, a move the town forestalled by appealing Wednesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Then she drove off to Portland, Ore., where she forestalled her father’s hope that she become a lawyer by eventually landing a job at alternative newspaper Willamette Week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2025
So this was largely a case of harm forestalled rather than harm halted: implementation is easier in such cases, as no ‘making good’ is required.
From Salon ● May 28, 2025
Wednesday’s decision forestalled any such attack on double jeopardy.
From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2024
“Thanks, River,” said another very familiar voice; Ron started to speak, but Hermione forestalled him in a whisper.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
The rate of U.S. inflation could soon top 3% and push the Federal Reserve further away from its 2% target, forestalling additional reductions in interest rates.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 25, 2026
A study published last year in the journal Nature, for example, found that a personalized vaccine showed promise in forestalling recurrence of clear cell renal cell carcinoma, an aggressive form of kidney cancer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
Gill underplays Booth’s mental challenges, perhaps forestalling a diagnosis that could make it easier for us to distance ourselves from the character.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2025
Publication of these studies is far in the future, but in the meantime, the mathematical model offers a starting point for considering the feasibility and possible benefits of forestalling menopause in healthy women.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 6, 2024
The answer was accepted and amplified by Rav Gershenson, thereby forestalling Danny’s poised hand.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
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.
