intervention

American  

[in-ter-ven-shuhn] / ˌɪn tərˈvɛn ʃən /

noun

• interventions
  plural

1. the act or fact of coming or occurring between two people, things, or times.

   Squabbling siblings generally work things out themselves, but this fight called for parental intervention.

   Even the intervention of 20 years hadn’t erased their mutual dislike.

2. interposition or interference of one state in the affairs of another.

   The UN’s prohibition of armed intervention in the civil war can easily be criticized as antihumanitarian.

3. a planned confrontation of someone engaging in self-destructive behavior, such as substance abuse, to convince them to seek treatment.

   She thought her drinking was a well-kept secret until she came home to find six of her siblings and friends ready to conduct an intervention.

4. Education. a targeted short-term teaching strategy for students with specific needs.

   Reading interventions kept several of her students from having to switch to remedial classes.

5. Medicine/Medical. a treatment, procedure, or other action taken to prevent or treat disease, or to improve health in other ways.

   The patient has responded well to nonpharmacological interventions for high blood pressure.

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intervention British  

/ ˌɪntəˈvɛnʃən /

noun

1. the act of intervening

2. any interference in the affairs of others, esp by one state in the affairs of another

3. economics the action of a central bank in supporting the international value of a currency by buying large quantities of the currency to keep the price up

4. commerce the action of the EU in buying up surplus produce when the market price drops to a certain value

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reintervention
  noun
• interventional
  adjective
• interventionary
  adjective
• prointervention
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• interventions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of intervention

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Late Latin interventiōn-, stem of interventiō “interruption, occurrence”; equivalent to intervene + -tion

Explanation

An intervention is the act of inserting one thing between others, like a person trying to help. You could be the subject of a school intervention if your teachers call your parents about the bad grades you've been hiding. Intervention comes from the Latin intervenire, meaning "to come between, interrupt." Often an intervention is intended to make things better, like the US government's intervention to give food and aid to Haiti after the earthquake. One common use of the word refers to a specific type of meeting, or intervention, that happens with the family and friends of a drug addict; they join together to try to convince the drug user to change their ways and live a healthier life.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

intervention interventions

More yen intervention will probably just delay tough choices for Japan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Potentially, this questioning is a call for an intervention.

From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026

Occasionally, though, someone still seeks out a human intervention.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

The letter welcomed the prime minister's intervention, adding: "This provides an opportunity not only to examine every lawful avenue in PC Andrew Harper's case, but to ensure similar concerns do not arise again."

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

Creatures such as the Tebo, the Demiguise and the Bowtruckle have their own highly effective means of camouflage and no intervention by the Ministry of Magic has ever been necessary on their behalf.

From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling

Their goal is to identify effective treatments and determine the best timing for possible interventions.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

The fire service received 300 calls and performed 85 interventions, especially in southern Granada and the city's metropolitan area, said Antonio Sanz, the Andalusia region's top emergencies official.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

What won't be changing: Unlike at the World Cup, there will be no VAR interventions on incorrect corners or red cards for players who cover their mouth in a confrontational situation.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

CAP’s paper used an “interrupted time-series analysis” to argue that crime was already trending down prior to the deployments, and that the National Guard interventions had “no measurable effect” on those trends.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

I have discovered, deep in the hearts of many condemned and incarcerated people, the scattered traces of hope and humanity—seeds of restoration that come to astonishing life when nurtured by very simple interventions.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Related Words

• interference
• mediation