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.

Harry’s aunt and uncle have been preventing such dispatches from reaching the young wizard-to-be, but the boarding school’s messenger owls are having none of it.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026

In 2014, there were governmental regulations, imperfect though they may have been, preventing pharmaceutical companies from filling their gelcaps with sawdust, or public-school teachers from filling their lesson plans with Holocaust denialism.

From The Guardian • Feb. 7, 2020

"Our research is showing those technologies have been preventing crashes, so this shows that the government agrees that this is worth promoting to the public."

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2015

First, it kept firm income higher than it would have been, preventing some firms from going out of business.

From Economist • Jan. 22, 2014

Besides, I have been preventing your talk with our friends.

From The Fortunate Youth by Locke, William John