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.
Officers potentially wasting thousands of hours in pursuit of car backfires and construction noise mislabeled as gunfire has not deterred the New York Police Department from continuing to use it.
From Salon
She said the noise devices and barriers at the Cypress Park store were designed to deter illegal overnight parking, encampments and other related problems that were creating a safety hazard.
From Los Angeles Times
Legislation designed to improve the lot of South Africa’s Black majority has also deterred investment.
In 2024, officials blocked one of Japan's most iconic photo spots in Fujikawaguchiko with a big black barrier in a bid to deter badly behaved tourists.
From BBC
With an authorized storage capacity of 714 million barrels, it is designed to deter threats by hostile nations to interrupt supplies.
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.
