intervention

[ in-ter-ven-shuhn ]
See synonyms for: interventioninterventions on Thesaurus.com

noun
  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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

Origin of intervention

1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Late Latin interventiōn-, stem of interventiō “interruption, occurrence”; equivalent to intervene + -tion

Other words from intervention

  • in·ter·ven·tion·al, in·ter·ven·tion·ar·y, adjective
  • pro·in·ter·ven·tion, adjective
  • re·in·ter·ven·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use intervention in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for intervention

intervention

/ (ˌɪntəˈvɛnʃən) /


noun
  1. the act of intervening

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

  1. 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

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

Derived forms of intervention

  • interventional, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012