deterrent
[dih-tur-uh nt, -tuhr-, -ter-]
- serving or tending to deter.
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Origin of deterrent
Synonyms
See more synonyms for deterrent on Thesaurus.com2. restraint, curb, check, hindrance.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for deterrent
Contemporary Examples
This is supposed to act as a deterrent, but may be an incitement.
Prosecutors described the verdict and the sentencing as a “deterrent.”
Still, there may be a deterrent for women that is far less spoken about, at least in polite circles.
Concealed carry is good for responding to a crime in progress; open carry is a deterrent to it.
These steps would be plausible, purely defensive, and a deterrent for starters.
Historical Examples
The ease of getting a livelihood acts as a deterrent to ambition.
The Negro FarmerCarl Kelsey
It is a deterrent for others, not a healing process for the man himself.
The Soul of a PeopleH. Fielding
The school has in most cases been a deterrent to their progress, rather than a help.
The Measurement of IntelligenceLewis Madison Terman
This is only an imitation of nature, in which pain is a sanction and a deterrent.
FolkwaysWilliam Graham Sumner
Here we have a recrudescence of the idea that great penalties are deterrent.
FolkwaysWilliam Graham Sumner
deterrent
- something that deters
- a weapon or combination of weapons, esp nuclear, held by one state, etc, to deter attack by another
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- tending or used to deter; restraining
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Word Origin
C19: from Latin dēterrēns hindering; see deter
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for deterrent
1829, noun and adjective, in Bentham, from Latin deterrentem, present participle of deterrere (see deter). In reference to nuclear weapons, from 1954.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper